


we could be heroes (just for one day)

by hetzi_clutch



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Big Sister Alex Danvers, F/F, Gen, Humor, Implied Attempted Sexual Assault, Light Angst, Light-hearted fluff, Miscommunication, Sister fluff, Slow Burn, SuperCorp, Winn and kara brotp, a coming of age story I guess, a high school au but they're in college, but it's ok we'll get there, but there's romance too!, i honestly don't know how to tag, side sanvers, some violence, they're in love with each other but too dumb to do anything but pine, this is a spiderman: homecoming au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-09-22
Packaged: 2019-03-07 10:58:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 88,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13433283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hetzi_clutch/pseuds/hetzi_clutch
Summary: It was easy for her cousin. He didn't have anybody telling him he wasn't 'ready' to be a hero, no big sister dogging his every step, nobody telling him that the world didn't need another Superman. Kara knows deep inside that she's meant to be a hero, though nobody else seems to agree. Her solution? To take the matter into her own hands, much to everyone's chagrin.A Spiderman: Homecoming AU. Includes clueless teen superhero Kara Danvers, overly-enthusiastic bestie Winn Schott, extremely protective big sister Alex, and an aggressively pining Lena. Inspired by a brilliant headcanon and some amazing fan art (link posted inside).





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So I was scrolling on tumblr when I saw this: https://battenthecrosshatches.tumblr.com/post/169909576070/nerdaday-worldkilller-nerdaday
> 
> And so after getting worldkiller's awesome headcanon stuck in my head and seeing battendownthehatches' fan art, I had to immediately abandon all my other projects to work on this. I hope I did it justice.

The thief stood poised in the doorway of the stop-n-shop, a plastic bag swinging limply in his left hand, half-filled with cash, while the other clutched a handgun. His eyes roamed up and down the masked vigilante before him, sizing the figure up. They lingered on the superman logo splashed across the figure’s hoodie, and he frowned indecisively, uncertain whether to run or fight.

“Um, aren't you a little small to be superman?”

Kara’s lips tugged upwards into a smirk, though she knew the thief couldn't see it under her mask.

“A little small, huh?” She drawled, waiting for the man’s eyes to widen in fear. Unfortunately, they didn't. Oh well.

“Oh, you're gonna wish I were superman.”

The thief reacted fast, bringing his gun up to loose a spray of bullets, but Kara was faster. Ignoring the barrage, which hammered uselessly against her, she lunged forward faster than the eye could see, drawing up to the man. He blinked and let out a yowl of shock as she appeared in front of him, seemingly out of thin air. He tried to stumble backwards but she grabbed him by the shirt collar and shot up several feet off the ground, hoisting him up into the air with her.

The sack of money hit the ground, having slipped from the man’s fingers, which had gone limp with shock. The gun followed seconds later with a clatter. Kara winced at the sound - she hadn't expected him to drop the gun, and was lucky it didn't go off. He must have used up every round in his useless barrage.

“Hey, kid - let me down!” The man yelped, and hands scrabbled uselessly at her iron grip as his legs pinwheeled wildly.

“You're only going to tear your shirt,” Kara said mildly. He didn't seem to hear, and kept struggling.

“This is assault! I'll have you sued!” 

“You mean right after I throw you in jail for theft?” 

The man's eyes narrowed. “You goddamn vigilantes,” He spat. “Thought I left the likes of you behind when I got outta Gotham!”

“Maybe try not following a life of crime!”

“Oh like I'm the only one operating outside the law here!?”

Kara was about to answer with a stabbing retort, but was cut off by the sound of ripping fabric. Unfortunately, she'd been right about the shirt. But before she could react, the fabric tore clean through, and the thief fell like a sack of rocks. He hit the ground with a sickening crack, and let out a cry of pain as he rolled onto his side. 

“Ooh,” He groaned, all the fight drained out of him. Kara's eyes widened as she took in his leg, bent at an odd angle. Oh no. She hadn't meant to hurt him - just scare him a little, and leave him for the police.

As if on queue, the sound of incoming police sirens blared. As she took in the sound, Kara realized that she only had a few seconds before the cops would arrive.

“Shucks,” She cursed, and glanced up the street, towards the oncoming sirens, and then back at the would-be robber lying prone in the street.

“Um, I have to go,” She said to no-one in particular. She turned, hesitated, and then gave one last glance towards the thief. “Uh, sorry about your leg.”

The man didn't answer, except to let out another groan.

The sirens were screeching now, just one street away, and as the police car turned the corner, lights flashing, Kara took off, blasting into the frigid night sky. She alighted moments later on a rooftop three blocks away, letting out a held-in breath. That was a close one. She racked her brain, trying to think of any possible evidence she might have left at the scene.

Fingerprints? No, her hands were gloved. Her hair was tied back, and tucked into her hoodie, and there was no way the man could have gotten a glimpse past her ski mask.

Kara sighed with relief, and then glanced at her watch. The relief dissolved into horror. Four in the morning! She had to get home, before Alex woke up for work. If her sister caught her out again, she'd have her hide, impenetrable or no.

She stood up, giving one last glance towards the direction of the crime scene she'd left behind, and flicker of guilt ran through her at the thought of the man's broken leg. She had to be more careful. 

Kara shivered, trying to shake the guilty thoughts loose from her head, and leapt once more into the night sky, this time in the direction of home.

***  
The cop car spun around the corner and screeched to a halt twenty meters from the man, lights whirling as the sirens still blared. A moment later the sound was cut off and the doors swung open, two figures bursting out.

The officers - a man and a woman - fanned out towards the prone figure, guns raised. The woman in the lead approached swiftly but cautiously, eyes scanning the scene of the crime, from the shop door hanging open to the bag of cash and handgun scattered fallen on the street. At last her gaze fell to the man lying on the floor, and her eyes widened, taking in his obviously broken leg and the expression of utter pain on his face.

“I don't think he's a threat,” Her partner commented, and after a moment she realized he was right. Lowering her gun, Maggie Sawyer looked once more over the scene, and then back to her partner, who, from the look on his face, was just as confused as she was. She gestured back toward the would-be criminal, and asked, not really expecting an answer:

“What the fuck happened here?”


	2. Morning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter, as promised - and I know it's a little short, but I'm working on the next chapter and it's already longer. 
> 
> Also, a note: I know this reads like a high school au, which was my intention (since spiderman: homecoming is a high school movie), but I aged up the characters a bit because I didn't want an unnecessarily large age gap between Kara and Alex - I still wanted them to have grown up together. So here Alex is 23, and Kara is just *barely* 19. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this, and tell me what you think!

Kara's room window was too small for her to speed through without breaking, so she drew up short just before she arrived. Hovering in the air, she undid the lock with the gentlest of movements, and, as silently as she could, began to climb in. As soon as she had clambered inside, she sped out of her clothes and into pajamas, diving under her sheets just in time to hear Alex start to stir in the other room.

She slowed her breathing, drawing out each breath until she could pass for being asleep, even as her ears stayed cocked to the sounds of Alex's morning routine. She listened as her sister moved slowly through the motions of pulling on clothes and brushing her teeth - grumbling occasionally at the early morning chill. Any moment, and her sister would make her way down the hall to wake Kara up; though it was far too early for class, Alex knew that Kara enjoyed sitting together in the early morning, watching the sun slowly crest the city skyline as they sipped coffee, flipped eggs, and, more often than not, let the toast burn. With Alex's new job and Kara's classes, they didn't get much time together besides those early hours of the day.

Kara's ears perked up at the sound of her sister’s slippered feet padding down the short hallway. Shoving her face into her pillow, she let her jaw go slack, hoping a bit of drool would run down her face to complete the image.

The door opened. Alex Danvers took in the sight of her sister splayed out on her  
messy bed, looking for all the world as if she hadn't seen the right side of consciousness for hours.

“Kara Danvers, I am going to kill you.”

Kara’s eyes shot open, as she jerked up, all pretences immediately forgotten.

“Wha-what did I do?” Her voice was incredulous with innocence.

Alex's brow furrowed, fury dancing across her face. “How many times have I told you to stop with your little nighttime adventures? How many times have you promised, and lied to my face?”

Now Kara’s slack-jawed expression had turned to one of shock. “What? I didn't do that! I don't do that anymore!”

Alex put her hands on her hips, her posture foreboding. Her eyes narrowed.  
“You've really got some nerve, you know that? I mean, I would’ve thought as your sister I’d be owed a little more trust!”

Kara just stared, speechless. How had her sister known? Did she know? Or was she just making a scarily accurate guess?

“I -”

“Save it, Kara.” Alex sniffed, disapproval clear in every word, and turned on her heel. Halfway out the door, she called back: “Learn to close your goddamn window!”

Kara stared in shock at her now-empty doorway, and then looked to her window, and let out a groan. She had closed it, but apparently neglected to turn the lock, allowing the window to swing open, where it gaped sadly at a 45 degree angle.

“Uuuugh!” Kara burrowed her head back into her pillow, letting the soft down muffle her frustrated groan. She had been so careful! Why did her freaking over-protective sister have to pay attention to every little thing?

“I'm not making breakfast!” Alex's shout floated down the hall, all anger mixed into self-righteousness, with a dash of big-sister condescension.

“I'm burning your toast!” Kara hollered back. It was times like these when she seriously considered using her powers for the not-so-good - like, say, to freeze her sister’s shower mid-rinse.

Kara was still grumbling as she trudged into the kitchen - or the tiny alcove which passed for one in their small apartment. Alex sat on the couch squished into the space that made up both their living room and dining area, sipping a from a mug of black coffee. She glowered at Kara over the rim of her cup, a look which Kara returned as she grabbed the pan hanging on the wall and thunked it moodily onto the stove.

“Forget the breakfast,” Alex said.

“I'm hungry.”

“You can make it after I'm gone. We need to talk.”

Kara scowled, but left the stove and approached the couch, crossing her arms as she flopped down a good five feet away.

There was a moment of silence as Alex drained the last few drops from her mug, and set it down on the coffee table. Then she looked at Kara, and though her eyes were still hard, they contained less of the fury that had been present that morning.

Finally, she spoke.

“Kara, you told me you stopped.”

This was the one thing that Kara had no defense for. She opened her mouth to say something but found there was nothing there, and so chose to close it and slump back into the couch, face flushed with defensive anger.

Alex waited expectantly for an answer, and as her sister continued to be less than forthcoming, she sighed.

“Why do you keep doing this?” Her voice was gentler this time, gentle enough to raise a lump in Kara's throat.

“I - I -” The words stuck. She swallowed, and continued. “I can't not, Alex. The people need me.”

“Oh, and the police aren't enough for them?”

“The police don't always get there in time. I can help.”

“Help? Kara, I know you're invulnerable, but you're barely nineteen! You just finished high school! You - “ She paused, struggling to remain calm, and then continued, her voice lower. “- you have classes.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Alex? Classes? Even the professors don't care if I show up!”

Alex narrowed her eyes. “That's not what it seemed like from your syllabus.”

Shoot. Alex would read her syllabuses. Okay, so maybe she'd pushed - blown - past the absent allowances in a few of her classes, but she could ace her midterms. It wasn't a big deal, really.

“I'm doing fine in school,” Kara retorted. “Not that it matters, anyway. Since when am I gonna need a degree for what I want to do?”

“Oh no, we are not starting with this again,” Alex said, pinching her nose in frustration. “We've talked about this already. Even Clark agrees. You need to go to school, get a good job, so you can -”

“- Have a good cover,” Kara cut her off. “Yeah, I know, I know. That's what Clark wants. But just because he thinks it's a good idea, doesn't mean I necessarily agree, Alex! There's more than one way to be a superhero!”

“Oh, so you don't need a secret identity now?” Alex responded, voice rising. “So you just want to fight crime 24/7? Be a superhero 24/7? With no rest, no life, just a persona?”

“It's better than being Kara Danvers 24/7!” Kara shouted and shot to her feet, faster than she'd intended. Her foot hit the leg of the coffee table on her way up and wood splintered, causing the table to tilt dangerously. Alex's empty mug, perched atop the now ruined table, toppled and went rolling towards the edge. 

With a practiced hand Alex reached out and stopped the mug before it careened off the edge. The anger was gone from her face, replaced by an unreadable expression.

“What if that were somebody's leg?” Her voice, as she spoke, was dangerously calm.

Alex watched her sister’s face crumple at the words, as the fight drained out of her. She had apparently hit a sore spot - though she had no idea just how unnervingly correct her words were. She looked at her sister searchingly, and decided not to ask.

“Come on, sit down.” Her voice was soft, comforting - no trace of the earlier anger. Kara complied, this time flopping down right next to her sister, who reached out and put her arm around her shoulder. Kara leaned into the embrace, and a minute passed before either of them spoke.

Finally, Alex was the one to break the silence.

“You don't really mean that, do you? About not wanting to be Kara Danvers?” This was a hint of anxiety in her tone, and she tiltedher head so as to look her sister in the eye.

“No, not really.” Kara's mumbled reply was just barely audible. “I just….I feel like I'm wasting my time! Going to classes, learning stuff I already know. I passed high school, which even you said is the baseline education for earth! Why do I need more of a human education if the job I want to do isn't even a human job?”

“Okay. Well, first of all - nowadays, a high school diploma isn't gonna cut it for most jobs. You're gonna need a college degree to do something interesting. Or if you want a career. And anyway, what if you decide that you don't want to be a superhero?”

Kara snorted in disbelief. “Like that's gonna happen.”

“Thought I should give it a try.” Alex smiled ruefully. “Alright, then consider this; Clark didn't start his second job until he was already a reporter at the Daily Planet. That was a smart move. He had an education, he had a cover story so nobody would ever suspect him - “

“Yeah, and?” Kara challenged, cutting her sister off. “I've got a backstory too. I've got an education - and nobody would ever suspect a college student to moonlight as a superhero.”

Alex waited until her sister had finished, and then arched one eyebrow. “May I continue?”

Kara flushed with embarrassment. “Yeah, sorry, go ahead.”

“My point is - Clark became a superhero when he knew he was ready. Once he felt settled, and confident in who he was, in his capabilities, in his control - that's when he became Superman. And Kara, it can't be one second sooner than that.”

“I am ready.” Even as Kara felt the words leave her tongue, she knew it would be no use. Ever since she'd declared that she'd wanted to be a superhero, like Kal-El, everybody in her life seemed obsessed with telling her why she wasn't ready - never mind that she was technically older than her cousin. 

And yes, Alex was already shaking her head. “Kara, I know you hate to hear this, but not yet. Even Clark agrees.”

And that was the meat of it - the final argument. Superman said she wasn't ready, so she wasn't ready. Kara scowled at the thought. More likely, Kal-El thought that he didn't need a sidekick getting in his way - which she understood, except that Kara had no intention of being anybody's sidekick.

Still, she let her head hang in defeat. No matter what Clark had to say about her abilities, what Alex’s earlier remark had punched a hole in her sails. Her comment about the leg had been closer than she'd realized to the truth. Maybe Kara did need some time off, to recenter herself. Focus on her powers. Fine-tune her control. The sickening crack of the man slipping from her grip and hitting the concrete played in her mind, and she shuttered involuntarily.

Okay, maybe Alex was a little right.

Her sister, sensing defeat, went in for the final kill. “Listen,” She begged. “Just - please take a break for the time being. Please, Kara. If you're really determined, we can have Clark come over and give you an evaluation - check your progress, that sort of thing. Maybe even see if you're ready, if you want. But until then, can you just….cool it?”

Kara gave her sister a long-suffering look, and then let out a huff of exasperated defeat.

“Fine,” She muttered. Alex narrowed her eyes, searching her face for the slightest hint of dishonesty.

“Promise?” She asked at last.

Kara rolled her eyes, throwing her hands up in the air. “Yes, Alex, promise! Really, I'll stop sneaking out to fight crime at night -”

“- And in the day,” Alex interrupted. Kara shot her a glare, and continued.

“- And in the day, and I'll focus on my studies, if you get Kal-El to come visit so I can have a talk with him about controlling my future.”

“Deal,” Alex said, grinning, and stuck her hand out. Kara took it reluctantly, and they shook. “Now help me up.”

“Ugh, you're so annoying!” Kara complained, even as she grasped her hand and yanked her to her feet - perhaps a little rougher than intended.

“I may be, but that's my privilege as older sibling,” Alex answered, unswayed. “And I have to get to work. You got class at eight?”

“You know my schedule better than me,” Kara muttered, too low for her sister to catch, and then answered at regular volume: "Yeah, I do."

“Good,” Alex said distractedly as she rushed about the apartment, throwing on a jacket and work shoes, and grabbing her purse. “Alright, I'm outta here, and I want that coffee table fixed before I get home, got it?”

“Yes ma’am.” Kara touched her fingers to her brow in a mocking salute. Alex shot her a look. 

“Don't call me that. I'm twenty-three, not forty.”

Kara gave a non-committal grunt and allowed herself to be pulled into a hug, and then her sister was out the door, Kara cocking her head to listen as the familiar footsteps receded into the distance.

And then she was alone. She looked at her watch and sighed. 6:13. Nearly two hours to kill before she had to get to class.

This was the part she hated about the mornings; the dead space between when Alex left for work and she left for class, when there was nothing but the early morning silence to keep her company.

Twenty minutes later Kara was sitting on the couch, trying to balance a plate of eggs and toast on the dangerously angled coffee table, when her phone went off. She glanced at it grumpily, expecting a nagging text from Alex.

Lena: hey! still on for tutoring today at 10:30? :)

Kara smiled, and grabbed her phone, swiping at the message to reply.

Kara: for sure, see u there :)

The reply came in the shape of a heart emoji, which Kara looked at for several seconds before putting her phone to the side. She returned to her food, a small smile still playing at her lips.

Maybe the rest of the day wouldn't be so bad, after all.


	3. Unfortunate revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a good bit longer than the last, enough to get the plot moving along. Honestly I'm writing this by the seat of my pants, which I never do, so I can't really say where it's going (though I do have a few major plot points planned out). I don't know if I'll keep this schedule of updating every day, but to be honest I'm having a blast writing teenagevigilante!Kara, so who knows?

There was a fluttering of loose newspapers in the alleyway as Kara thumped down, only narrowly avoiding a puddle of sickly looking water.

Kara danced away from the puddle and shoved her glasses back up her nose as she glanced at her watch. 7:50. Not as late as she had thought she'd be, considering she’d spent a good half hour looking for the glasses. Alex was always riding her about wearing them, though it wasn't as if she needed the frames to hide her identity the way Clark did - and anyway it'd been years since she'd had an accident with her heat vision.

Not that it seemed to matter. What Alex said, goes. 

Kara sighed and shouldered her backpack. The sounds of a campus full of college students rushing about just a block away filled her ears. As she stepped out onto the street, senses still tuned to the distant noise, she didn't notice the familiar shape crossing in front of her until she crashed right into him.

“Ow!” Winn Schott bounced right off Kara and stumbled backwards, about to fall. Kara shot out a hand to catch him just before his backside made contact with the pavement, and hoisted him back to his feet.

“Sorry, Winn!” She said, wincing in sympathy. “I guess I didn't see you there.”

“Oh, Kara it’s you!” Winn hopped to his feet, dusting off invisible flecks of dirt. “No harm done! I didn't see you either - but I gotta say, walking into you is like walking into a brick wall.”

“Yeah, so Alex has told me.” Kara grimaced. “I didn't know you had class this early.”

“Um, actually, I don't,” Winn admitted. “I'm going to the library before my 10:30, to do some..uh….research.”

“Research, huh?” Kara raised one eyebrow and fell into step beside him. They resumed their walk towards the university at a leisurely pace. “What, you're finally gonna perfect that super suit you tried to make for the 10th grade science fair?”

Winn flushed at the reminder. “Hey, I'll have you know that I am only a few small breakthroughs away from making that suit a reality!”

“Mmhmm.” Kara made a noncommittal noise, unconvinced.

“Anyway, that's not what I'm researching.” Winn ignored his friend’s sarcastic rebuttal and dropped into a whisper, his voice hushing with quiet enthusiasm. “It's about our neighborhood vigilante. Apparently, he or she was seen again last night!”

He paused in his step to fumble for his coat pocket, producing a folded up newspaper page which he waved triumphantly under Kara's nose. 

_**Masked Vigilante Wounds Would-Be Robber, Baffles Police** _

Kara's eyes widened as she read the headline and she snatched the page out of her friend’s hand, ignoring Winn’s subsequent whine.

“Hey, that's mine!” He complained. “Also geez, how are you so damn fast?”

Kara didn't hear a word, too busy scanning the article, which was, damningly, apparently from the front page. With each paragraph her heart sank lower. The injured thief had told everything - how she’d held him by the collar, hovering in the air, and how his bullets had bounced ineffectively off her chest - and Kara winced, remembering just how many bullet holes she'd have to sew up in her favorite sweatshirt. She’d definitely have to find some sort of durable cloth - not that she planned on doing the hero thing for a while, anyway...

“You done?” Winn's excited voice startled her from her reverie. “Look, and this is what I'm going to research.”

He pointed a finger towards the end of the article, and Kara followed his gaze, stomach dropping as she read the paragraph. The thief had described her appearance, down to every detail. Of course, other articles had caught on to her superman sweatshirt, but that was nothing - they were so common that everybody wore them. One could pick one up at Walmart for twenty bucks. 

However, unlike her other encounters, this thief apparently possessed some sort of photographic memory.

_‘“She wore a ski mask, grey, not black - it was a she, I'm sure of it - and had sunglasses over the mask, though hell if I know why. I mean, it was nighttime.”_

_The would-be thief seemed much more eager to describe his attacker than his crime, as he lay recuperating in the hospital, awaiting criminal charges for his attempted robbery._

_“She was tall-ish, and had long hair - blonde, I think, I could see it peeking out from the hoodie. Honestly, I hate to admit I got beat up by a girl, but this chick wasn't normal! She had powers, abilities - almost like Superman.”_

_Authorities are now on the lookout for a suspect that fits the description - female, blonde-haired, and of average height and weight. They have asked anybody possessing additional information to please step forward, and want to remind the community to leave crime-fighting in the hands of the police.’_

__

Kara closed her eyes as she read the last sentence, letting a wave of dread crash over her. _Alex is gonna kill me._ She wondered if she could fly around the city fast enough to destroy every copy of today's newspaper before Alex saw the headline. Probably not.

Winn's enthusiasm wavered, and slipped into doubt as he watched Kara's expression fall.

“Kara, you okay?” He asked, voice filled with uncertainty. “I thought you'd think this would be cool - I mean, we've been tracking this guy for ages! And now we know for sure that it's not a dude, it's a she! I mean, that's huge!”

“Yeah, for sure, Winn.” She gave her friend an unconvincing smile. “I guess it's just kind of disappointing, that it's almost over, you know? I mean, what if we figure out who this person is, and it's just some lame-o? I don't know - I guess I kind of like the mystery.”

“I guess,” Winn didn't seem convinced. “But it could be somebody really crazy! I mean, it says here she has powers like Superman! Maybe they're related, or something.”

“I don't know,” Kara grimaced again, and pushed her glasses back up her nose. “I mean, you can fake that stuff, I guess I just -” 

She sighed in frustration, unable to find the words to finish, and ran a hand through her hair before glancing at her wrist. “Oh, shoot! I'm late for class, I gotta run. See ya later, ‘kay?”

She bounded forward and then paused, turning back to yell: “Tell me if you find something!”

“Sure thing!” Winn called back. She gave him a friendly wave, and took off towards the mass of students at the end of the street. Winn watched her go, hand caught in mid air. He lowered it slowly, mind turning. There was something off about his friend today. He had the strangest feeling that Kara knew something about their vigilante, something that she wasn't letting on - but what? And why? They always shared research with each other.

He scratched his head, and continued in the direction of the campus at an amble. His mind whirled, but he found no answer. Perhaps the answer was somewhere in the archives of the university library - he'd check the section on Superman’s history first. Maybe there was some sort of relation - or at least more information with which to compare his powers to that of the vigilante. 

No, there was something suspicious about the whole thing, and Winn was determined to get to the bottom of it - no matter what his friend was hiding from him.

***

Maybe it was a good thing Alex always insisted on the glasses, because Kara was pretty sure that if she hadn't been wearing them, Professor Grant would have been toast by now. As it was, she had to settle for glaring daggers at the professor, who droned on, blissfully unaware of how close she was to being on the receiving end of Kara's heat vision.

She’d started tapping her pen impatiently against her desk as 10:30 rolled by with no end in sight, and as the green digits on the wall clock slipped from 10:34 to 10:35, her pen finally had enough, splintering with one final crack! against the faux-wood surface.

Kara looked down at her ruined pen, scowling. The noise turned the heads of a few curious students, but she swiped the wreckage quickly into the bottom of her bookbag, and met the other students’ searching eyes with a shrug.

“- And that is our class for today.” With a clap of her hands Professor Grant at last ended her lecture, drawing the last few lingering stares back to the front. “I'll remind you that I expect everyone to have done the reading by next class, or I will see no reason for you to continue attending -”

Kara was already out the door, ignoring Professor Grant’s usually reminders. Her bag swung wildly from her shoulder as she sprinted towards the library, dodging students and teachers. She arrived at 10:37 and skidded to a halt outside the double doors, taking a moment to flatten her mussed hair, and smooth her shirt. Drawing in a breath, and with one final straightening of her glasses, she shoved the doors open and walked through.

She spotted Lena immediately, sitting in their usual place, and swallowed, trying to calm the sudden fluttering in her stomach. Her friend was bent over some complicated-looking equations, dark hair fanned out over her books as she bobbed her head gently to the music in her headphones. It was low, but Kara easily picked up the the crooning tones of David Bowie. Lena claimed he helped her study, though Kara wasn't sure how much she trusted that claim.

Kara thumped down in the seat across from her, and Lena looked up and smiled, pulling one earbud out. She opened her mouth to utter a greeting, but her friend cut her off before she could even start.

“I'm so sorry I'm late! My class was supposed to end at 10:30, but Professor Grant kept talking, but I got here as fast as I could -”

“Kara, it's fine,” Lena's voice, soft and reassuring, cut short her stream of apologies. “Um, you actually got here really fast. Isn't the journalism department on the other side of campus?”

Kara flushed pink. “Oh, yeah, um - I ran,” She answered lamely. “I'm pretty fast.”

Lena raised in eyebrow, impressed. “If you're that fast you should try out for track and field next spring. I hear they let newcomers do walk-on tryouts.”

“Oh yeah, well sports aren't really my scene.” Kara adjusted her glasses nervously, and decided to change the subject. “So, whatcha working on?”

She leaned over to look at the scribbled equations, but Lena snatched them away before she could get a good look. 

“Oh no you don't,” She said, stuffing the papers back into the tote bag hanging off her chair. “I already have an A- in calculus, and I saw your last paper on current events. We're doing history first.”

“ _Lee-na_ ,” Kara groaned dramatically, and slid back into her chair. “My last paper was fine.”

“You barely passed,” She reminded firmly, unmoved by her friend’s pleading. “And that was mostly because of my tutoring, thank you very much. I still don't know how you managed to mix up the world wars so much.”

“The technology is really similar,” Kara whined. “It's pretty much the exact same thing each time!”

“It's really not.” Lena's voice turned soft, and she gave Kara a look of concern. “By the way, why didn't you tell me you had trouble with spelling and grammar? I could have proofread your paper.”

“Oh, I - um, I didn't want to take up too much of your time,” She stammered, caught off guard by the question. “I mean, you're already helping me in history.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “And you're helping me nudge my straight As back into place before my mother finds out I let calculus drop to a B. Seriously Kara, I don't mind at all. That's what friends are for.”

“If you say so.” Kara gave her a crooked grin, which Lena returned with a faint blush - or maybe she was imagining that. 

She rummaged around in her bag, producing her latest current events topic, and they leaned in together over the paper, faces inches apart as Kara started to explain the parameters of the assignment. 

They were two pages deep into an extensive outline, and so focused on the assignment at hand that Kara didn't register Winn's presence until he had come up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

“Kara!” He said in a loud whisper.

She spun around at the contact, sending pages flying. “Winn!” She hissed, startled. “Way to sneak up on a person!”

Winn ignored her tone, earnest impatience etched upon his face. His hands fidgeted with nervous tension, one foot tapping rapidly. 

“You gotta come with me - oh, hi Lena,” He gave a quick, almost dismissive,  
nod towards Lena, who gave a rather confused nod in return. 

“Hi Winn, what's up?”

Winn ignored the question completely, and turned directly to Kara. “Can I talk to you, please? Alone?”

He didn't notice the affronted look Lena gave him. Kara stared at him, and her expression changed, the annoyance dissolving into a flash of trepidation.

“Is this about the - ?”

“Yep!” Winn nodded, and swallowed excitedly, Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. “So can you and I - ?” He gestured towards the library door.

“What - oh, yeah!” Kara turned back towards the table and began shoving papers and books into her bag. “Sorry, Lena, it's just, something came up -”

“But we haven't even finished your outline!” Lena protested. “Isn't it due by Friday?”

“That's like a week away,” Kara said dismissively, and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Listen, I'm really sorry, but this is important - I'll call you!”

With that she gave a wave goodbye and strode towards the door, Winn trailing after her. Lena watched them go, face falling.

“School’s pretty important too,” She muttered to nobody in particular, and sighed, reaching back into her bag to pull out her equations from earlier. At least they weren't tough enough to require Kara’s assistance - not that Lena would have protested if she had offered. However, it was hard to get Kara to focus on schoolwork for more than a little while; her friend always seemed caught up with - something, though Lena could hardly guess what. 

It doesn't matter, she thought, moodily slashing a line through an incorrect problem as she wondered just what Kara was so distracted by. She wondered if it was a boy. She hoped it wasn't a boy.

***

Once the library doors slammed shut behind them, Kara whirled around to face her friend. Winn stumbled to a halt, only barely stopping himself from crashing into her for the second time that day. 

“Okay, Kara, I'm starting to think this whole lack of spatial awareness thing is on you, not me,” He said, steadying himself. “No offense, but I'm not really looking to get splattered on the pavement again.”

“Sorry,” Kara said, though judging by the preoccupied expression on her face he didn't think she'd been really listening. “Um, what did you want to talk to me about?”

Immediately Winn's expression changed, uncertain excitement flickering across his face. He took a deep breath, about to speak, and then glanced back at the library doors the pair happened to be standing directly in front of.

“Okay, not here, but -” He grabbed Kara's hand, dragging her down the hallway until they were well out of range of any passerbys. “Alright, listen.” 

“I'm listening,” Kara said, crossing her arms impatiently. Winn took another deep breath, enthusiasm apparently inhibiting his ability to speak. 

“Okay, okay, so! Remember how this morning I said I'd do a little research?” At Kara's assenting nod, he continued. “Right, well, I didn't really find anything in the archives so I just kind of started looking back over the article, you know rereading what exactly happened and everything, and then - it hit me.”

He paused for effect, checking to ensure that he still had his friend’s attention.

“When what hit you?” Kara frowned, impatience getting the better of her. Her thoughts thrummed with tension. If Winn knew the vigilante was her, this seemed an odd way of telling her, but still - 

“C’mon, Winn, tell me. Did you figure out who she is?”

“Uh, not exactly.” Kara exhaled in relief. Her secret was safe. So far.

“But -” He said hastily, apparently mistaking Kara's sigh for a sound of disappointment. “I did find a lead that could bust her identity wide open!”

“What? How?” Kara's eyes snapped back to his, incredulity written across her face.

Winn leaned in earnestly, voice hushed, though there was nobody around for a good hundred meters.

“Do you remember how in the article, the guy said he shot her like a million times, but the bullets bounced off?”

Kara nodded, question marks dancing in her eyes.

“Well, as I was reading I realized - the bullets must still be there! And even if they bounced off her, they probably tore right through her costume. That means they probably have thread fibers attached to them, maybe even some traces of DNA! Kara, if we could get our hands on those bullets, I bet I could figure out how to trace them back to our vigilante!”

Kara stared at her friend, dumbfounded. She opened her mouth, grappling for an appropriate response, but found none. Instead, she found herself gaping in shock. Winn had quite literally outdone himself - and her, and probably the entire police department while he was at it.

Her friend was incredibly, underratedly, smart. Even worse, he was right.

If those bullets were lying out there on the street, then Kara had to get them.

“You want us to search the crime scene.”

Kara's tone was flat with shock, and as Winn registered her seeming unenthusiasm, his face fell, eagerness sliding into hesitation. 

“I mean, yeah,” He said awkwardly, and began to fidget again, twisting his fingers together anxiously. “I mean, if you want to, because I want to, but also you didn't seem very enthusiastic this morning, or now so if you don't want to -”

“Winn, breathe,” She said pointedly, and he clamped his mouth shut. “And no, of course I want to! I'm sorry I was so out of it this morning - I was just, um, kind of in a bad mood. I had another fight with Alex.”

“Oh.” Concern flashed across Winn's face. “Wow, that's like the fourth one this month. You guys never used to argue like that. What gives?”

“Ugh, I don't know,” Kara slumped against the wall. “She's been really on my back lately, with college and everything. I just -” She paused, running her hand frustratedly through her hair. How could she properly explain what was bothering her to Winn, without revealing the actual problem?

“She treats me like a child,” She continued after a moment’s pause. “I mean, you know how overprotective Alex is, but I'm in college now! I'm nineteen! Can't she back off just a little bit?”

Winn nodded, eyes wide in sympathy. “Wow, I feel you there. My mom is still teary-eyed about me leaving for college, and keeps texting me in every class to say she misses me. I mean, the campus dorms are literally ten minutes away from her apartment!”

Kara snorted in laughter, and felt the irritable feeling that had clung to her since the morning fight start to dissolve. “If Alex started texting me that kind of stuff every class, I think I'd call the police to report a body snatcher.”

Winn smiled, relieved at his friend’s change of mood. “Yeah, that'd definitely be suspicious. Might be a nice change though - Alex is, um, scary.”

“More like terrifying,” Kara corrected him. “So uh, what were you saying about the crime scene? That we should go check it out?”

Winn's face split into an ecstatic grin. “You're in?”

“Oh, you know I'm in.” Kara’s smile returned, this time devious. “You don't have class, right? We can go now.”

“Of course! Wait - don't you have class though?” 

Kara's smile faltered just for a moment, and then she shrugged. Alex may not agree to her nighttime activities, but she would be twice as angry if she knew that Kara could have possibly left incriminating evidence at the crime scene. No, she would have to take care of this, and quickly.

“Psssh. I've still got some absences I can use up. Besides, I can't go after class - I have to run an errand for Alex.”

“Well, if you're sure.” Winn hesitated, and then narrowed his eyes. “Hey, just don't go putting the blame on me if Alex finds out about your absences. As far as I'm concerned, you're a free agent.”

“Aw, I'm way ahead of you there,” Kara answered, unconcerned, and slung her arm around his shoulder. “She already knows.”

Winn grumbled, but let himself be pulled along towards the campus bus stop. “How is it that even with my own idea, I get the feeling that you're coercing me into a lot of trouble?”

“I feel like that's a personal problem, Winn.”

“Maybe.”

***

Early that morning:

The sun had just barely started to crest over the city skyline when the last police cruiser pulled away from the storefront. The shopkeeper watched them go, and then shakily switched the ‘closed’ sign to ‘open’. He sighed and collapsed into his chair behind the counter, flicking on the small TV in the corner to the sports channel. It was not every night when one’s carefully built business was the victim of an almost-successful robbery, and the thought of his narrowly avoided ill fate made him nauseous. He desperately needed a cigarette.

Not ten minutes after he had switched the sign, the front bell rang. The shopkeeper looked up as an elegantly dressed woman approached the counter. She wore a deep blue business suit and expensive coat, the kind of outfit that belonged to the richer part of town. There was something about her smile that made him uneasy - it reminded him of that of a shark.

“Good morning,” The woman's tone was brisk. “I'll have a small black coffee, please.”

She slid a crisp bill across the counter which he accepted, not bothering to check its authenticity. Though he couldn't help but wonder at the woman’s innocuous presence in his dingy store, there was no doubting from the way she dressed that she had money to spare. You could always tell the real rich people apart - they had a certain air about them.

He lumbered to his feet, pulling a disposable cup from the stack under the counter and thunking it down, before reaching for the pot of freshly brewed coffee behind him. It wasn't a high quality brew, but he didn't think the lady was expecting that.

She leaned forward to watch as he poured, fingers tapping gently on the counter. He finished, slapping a lid onto the cup, and shoved it towards her. 

“There ya go,” He grunted. She took it, but didn't move. He debated whether to ignore her and go back to watching the game, but after a moment she spoke.

“I'm sorry if this is intrusive, but I happened to notice police and medical personnel outside your storefront not too long ago. Did you have a break-in?”

“You could say that,” He answered reluctantly. “Honestly, I don't know everything that happened. I just got here at my usual time to open up, and the crime scene was already there.”

The woman's eyes sparked with interest. “Did the police explain what happened?”

The shopkeeper eyed the woman suspiciously. “Yeah, a bit. They didn't say much though - I think they were sort of embarrassed that they didn't get there in time. I talked to the thief too. Thought I should let him know who exactly he was stealin’ from.”

“What do you mean - the police didn't stop the criminal? Then who did?”

The shopkeeper shrugged. “Honestly? I'm not sure. But I think -” He paused, and gave the woman an evaluating look, as if as if he wasn't sure the woman would believe his next words.

“You think -?” She prompted.

“I think it was that vigilante that's been popping up in the news the past few months. I've never seen him myself, but I've heard the stories, and when I talked to that jerk who tried to rob me, his story matched up with all the others. This guy added some pretty crazy details though - said that he tried to shoot him, but the bullets just bounced off his chest. Like Superman or something.”

The woman raised an eyebrow. “Oh really?”

The shopkeeper gave another shrug. “I don't know about that. I mean, the guy was pretty out of it - his leg was totally messed up, and I think they had him on painkillers by the time he got hauled away.”

“Hmm,” The woman hummed thoughtfully. “That's quite a story.” 

“Yeah, sure is.” The shopkeeper stood awkwardly, unsure what to say next. The woman seemed momentarily lost in thought, but as he began to shift uncomfortably, she came back into focus and gave him another shark-like smile.

“Well, thank you for the coffee - and the story.” She gave a nod, which he returned, and then did an about-face, sweeping out of his store as quickly as she had arrived. The bell clanged behind her.

The shopkeeper stared after her for a minute, a frown etched upon his face. Something was off about that encounter, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He shook his head, and then slumped back into his chair, grabbing the remote to crank up the volume on the TV.

By the time his regular customers started to trickle in, and the store started to grow crowded, the shopkeeper had managed to brush the conversation entirely from his mind.

***

Lillian Luthor stepped out of the tiny store, and into the chilly, early-morning air. She glanced back through the storefront window, noting with some satisfaction that the man had already returned to his sports game. Then she turned her gaze back to the street, scanning the ground with a laser intensity.

The thief had supposedly emptied dozens of rounds into the street, but it looked, unfortunately, as if the police had already gone through and collected the spent bullets from the ground. Still, she searched on unperturbed, and after several minutes, was rewarded. A triumphant smile spread across her face, as she bent down to pick up one, then another, overlooked bullet. They were smashed almost flat, as if they'd collided with an impossibly strong wall, and crumpled under the pressure. That was impossible, of course, if they'd collided with a person.

Unless that person wasn't human.

Still smiling, Lillian placed the two bullets carefully into a small plastic bag, which she then tucked into her coat. She gave one last look up and down the street, to see if she had drawn any curious glances. Satisfied that she hadn't, she turned and strode to the direction of her car, where her driver sat waiting for her, engine idling. 

He gave her a curt nod as she slid in, and asked: “Where to, Mrs. Luthor? The office?”

“Not today Michael. The lab. I've got some important work to get done today.”

“Whatever you say, ma’am.” Michael turned the wheel, pulling the sleek black car smoothly away from the curb and onto the street. 

Lillian glanced out the window, lost in thought, as a distant smile played at her lips. She had been tracking the vigilante for months - ever since the first reporting in the news. By all accounts, the masked figure seemed to be similar to Superman - a costumed persona, operating smugly outside the law, but with far cruder methods and worse results. The police had been unlucky in their attempts to track the figure down, and worse, didn't seem to mind that much. Most likely drawn into the same ridiculously adoration that Superman managed to perpetuate.

Lillian's lip curled in disgust. Well, if the police couldn't - or wouldn't - stop the vigilante, she had no qualms about taking matters into her own hands; hers, and that of her organization. She would not let this city fall under the thrall of a violent alien vigilante, as had happened with Metropolis.

Superman may have the right to prance about freely in his own city, where nobody could control him, but Lillian would be damned if she'd let something like that happen in her own backyard. 

No, this mysterious vigilante - whoever, or whatever, they may be - would not be fighting crime for much longer.

Not if Lillian Luthor had anything to say about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kara is not having a very good day.
> 
> I want to say that although I did tag this as SuperCorp, and that will definitely be the main ship/endgame, I've decided that, like the movie, romance will not be the #1 focus (though it will play a big part, and Lena will have a main role, just not quite yet. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy reading this, and I'm always happy to hear what you think!


	4. Dead ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little unhappy with this chapter, because although I feel it's necessary it doesn't move the plot forward as much as I'd like. So the next chapter will hopefully have more action/things happening!
> 
> Oh, and although I haven't replied individually I want to say that I truly appreciate your comments and kudos, it gives me encouragement to write the next chapter and makes me feel like I'm actually writing something people want to read. So thank you so much, it really means a lot to me.

The sun was slowly starting to sink towards the horizon, casting lengthening shadows and melting the afternoon heat, as a chilly evening breeze ghosted through the air.  


The shopkeeper idled grumpily by the storefront window, restocking shelves as he occasionally cast a mistrustful eye towards the two kids loitering outside his shop. They'd been there for hours, just poking around. He didn't like it.  


“There's nothing here, Winn.” Kara scuffed the ground with the toe of her sneaker, and scowled. They'd been searching for hours, up both sides of the street and even down into the alleyway, and for nothing.  


“Wait - I think I missed a spot!” Winn called from across the street, crouched down as he peered underneath a dumpster.  


“We've triple-checked everything!” Kara called back, voice heavy with defeat. She let out a sigh and closed her eyes, tilting her face towards the sky, brow furrowed with worry. All she could think of was that the police must have found and gathered the bullets before they'd left the crime scene - it couldn't have been anyone else.  


Kara opened her eyes and took in a quickly pinkening sky. A part of her recalled that she'd need to leave soon, to get home before Alex, while another, bigger part, wondered glumly just how sophisticated the local police department’s forensic analysis might be. Winn had said that he might be able to locate and track DNA traces from the used bullets, but Winn was something of a genius. Kara wasn't sure how much stock she put in the police - they hadn't managed to catch her yet.  


Still, the concern nagged at her, and the disappointment was still evident in her face and posture when Winn jogged over, hair mussed and smelling faintly of garbage.  


“Okay, so not under the dumpster,” He huffed, and then sighed, his hopeful expression deflating. “I hate to admit it - really, really, hate - but I think you're right.”  


“Yeah, me too,” Kara grumbled. “And I wish I wasn't.”  


She kicked a pebble angrily across the sidewalk, with just a little too much force. It sailed through the air, ricocheting off a fire hydrant and careening into the window of last night’s victimized store, where it hit with a _clang!_ and dropped to the ground.  


Kara winced, as the shopkeeper inside startled at the noise, throwing her a dark look. She mouthed ‘sorry’, but it didn't appear to help, for the shopkeeper slapped down the box of cereal he'd been shelving, and bustled towards the door.  


“Uh oh,” Winn said, as the shop door flew open, bell ringing. “You didn't scratch the window, did you?”  


“I don't think so,” Kara answered dubiously. The shopkeeper stood in the doorway, and glared, before crooking a threatening finger at the two hapless teenagers.  


“You, kids. Over here, now.” His tone brooked no room for argument. Kara and Winn exchanged a glance, before moving reluctantly towards the store.  


He waited until they were close, and then jabbed a finger towards the ‘open’ sign hanging in the window.  


“You see that sign there?” He growled, and waited as they nodded in unison before continuing. “I almost didn't flip that sign today. Ya know why? Because last night some jackass decided to rob me, and almost got away with it. Now, I've built this business from the ground up, and I came this close to losing it, so if you think I'm gonna let you hooligans kick rocks into my windows, then you better run away before I call the cops.”  


Winn gulped at the angry tirade and squeaked, “No sir, that won't be necessary!” but Kara leaned forward, eyes sparkling with curiosity.  


“A robbery?” She asked. “Is your store okay? Did anything get stolen?”  


The shopkeeper took a step back, surprised at her sudden interest. The look in her eyes was strangely akin to worry, though he couldn't imagine why the girl would care about the state of his store.  


“It's fine,” He grunted, the menace in his tone receding slightly. “They didn't get away with anything - the guy got stopped before he could make a run for it.”  


“Really? By who?” Winn stepped forward eagerly, earlier trepidation forgotten.  


The shopkeeper’s eyes flitted questioningly between the two teenagers gazing at him, faces suddenly shining with interest at his words.  


“Dunno,” He answered at last, ignoring their falling expressions. “The police got here before I did. The thief was going on about some vigilante guy, but I don't know how much of that I believe. Guy’s probably just trying to draw attention from his arrest.”  


Kara frowned, and reached up to adjust her glasses. “But the newspapers said the same thing about the vigilante. That they stopped the guy before the police got there.”  


Winn nodded in agreement. “Yeah, and why would the police tell the newspapers that if it wasn't true? It just makes them look bad, like they're incompetent.”  


The shopkeeper simply shrugged, uninterested in the pair’s theories. “All I know is I almost got robbed, and I didn't. If it was the police that stopped that guy, well they should keep doing what they're doing. If it was some crazy masked guy running around, well - same goes.”  


Winn didn't seem satisfied at the man's pronouncement, and looked as if he wanted to argue, but Kara's face split into a wide grin.  


“So would you say -” She began to ask, only to be cut off by the shopkeeper’s gruff response.  


“Listen, kids, I don't know why you're so interested in this robbery, but I'm not. I didn't call you over so I could get quizzed, I called you over to tell you to stop fooling around my storefront, because I don't need any more trouble. Capisce?”  


“But -” Winn began.  


“Hey, I don't want to hear it. Hooligans like you two always attract more hooligans, and I'm about to close anyway, so why don't y'all just skedaddle?” His voice was not as gruff as before, but his eyes were narrowed dangerously, and Kara, who had opened her mouth to ask another question, thought better of the idea and snapped it shut.  


Instead she nodded, and once the shopkeeper gave a grunt of approval and turned back into his shop, she grabbed Winn and dragged him away, before he could protest.  


“Kara, I had more questions!” He hissed, fighting futilely against her iron grip. “And I can't believe he called us hooligans! We’re the opposite of hooligans! I've never even graffitied the desks at school!”  


“C’mon, he obviously doesn't want to talk,” Kara answered firmly. “The guy just got robbed. Also, it's not like he told us anything that wasn't in the papers.”  


She tried to keep her tone as nonchalant as possible, but inside she was glowing from the man's words. The shopkeeper had obviously been relieved at the vigilante’s intervention, even if he wouldn't admit that it had been the vigilante. She _had_ made a difference! Alex could stuff it.  


Okay, so she had promised to listen to Alex for the time being, if only to get her sister off her case, but this was undeniable proof that a new masked hero was not all bad news. Despite her attempts to hide it, Kara found a smile creeping up on her face all the same.  


She let go of Winn once they were a good distance down the street, and out of sight of the man’s store. Winn yanked his arm away and rubbed it, grumbling about his friend’s viselike grip.  


“You didn't have to drag me _that_ far,” He complained. “I know how to walk.”  


“Sorry,” Kare told him sincerely. “You just looked like you were about to keep quizzing him, and I don't think the guy was into it.”  


“Yeah, I guess,” Winn answered grudgingly, and then frowned. “But why are you smiling? I mean, we didn't find out anything new! We didn't even find any bullets.”  


“Oh yeah.” Kara deflated at the thought of the missing bullets, floating somewhere around the city, probably just waiting to incriminate her. “Do you think the police took them?”  


“I guess.” Winn shrugged. “Who else would’ve taken them? It sucks though - I bet we could have beaten them to the identity of the vigilante.”  


Kara fidgeted nervously with her glasses. “Do you really think they'll be able to figure it out?”  


“I don't know,” He admitted. “Honestly, the technique I was gonna use is sort of something I made up by myself, so I'm not sure the normal techniques would work.” He flashed a rueful grin. “Guess we'll see it in the news if they do, huh?”  


“Yeah, I suppose.” Kara sighed, gazing despondently off into the distance, into the direction of the crime scene they had left behind. There were few people on the street, and as she watched, the street lights began to flicker into existence, casting long shadows across the pavement.  


Street lights. Shadows. Kara's eyes widened as the significance of the swiftly falling darkness sunk in.  


“Shoot, Winn! What time is it?” She cast a desperate glance towards her watch, and cursed. “I forgot about that thing I needed to do for Alex!”  


“Uh oh.” Winn winced sympathetically. “Uh, do you want me to help with whatever it is? What is it, anyway?”  


“No, no.” Kara shook her head distractedly. “It's something I broke at home that Alex wanted me to fix, but I forgot to pick up the part I needed.”  


She bit the inside of her cheek, trying to figure out what to do. She'd have to fly to make it home in time, but how could she get rid of Winn?  


“The bus stop is like a block down,” Winn offered helpfully. “And I think the next bus is supposed to come in ten minutes.”  


“Uh, actually, that's okay,” Kara answered swiftly. “You know what, how about you go on and catch the bus? I'm gonna run and get that… that thing I need. I think I saw a hardware store next to the guy’s shop.”  


She gave Winn a quick “See ya!” and, without bothering to say goodbye, took off in a sprint, back towards the direction they had come. Winn watched her retreating form, and scratched his head, trying to recall if he'd seen a hardware store on that street. He didn't think so.  


Kara sprinted for a good two hundred meters, just enough to drop out of her friend’s line of vision, before she stopped abruptly, sliding into an alleyway whose entrance was half-hidden by garbage. She whipped off her glasses and, out of habit, gave the space a quick once-over, though her super hearing didn't detect any noise in the vicinity.  


Kara stuffed her glasses into her pocket and took off, cursing her lack of timeliness. She would make it before Alex arrived, but only just - and she still had to figure out a way to fix the coffee table.  


As she rose just above the heights of the densely clustered rooftops Kara paused, hovering in the air to stretch out with her super hearing. She heard Winn tramping down the street, shivering as he drew his jacket against the chill. Farther down, the bus he was meant to catch trundled along, moving at a snail’s pace. She listened for a moment and then, satisfied that her friend would make it to the stop ontime, turned and blasted in the direction of home.  


***  


Lena crept into the house at half-past five, breath held as she listened for the tell-tale sounds of her mother. This was the time when she normally took her afternoon tea in the dining room, often accompanied by friends or clients, but the absence of clinking glasses indicated that her mother was away - most likely in her office, or at the lab.  


Lena exhaled in relief and abandoned her tiptoeing to clump loudly into the foyer and up the stairs. She hated the elegant family estate, perched on the outskirts of the city limits, and not just because it took nearly forty-five minutes on public transportation to get to campus. Her mother had insisted she take a driver many times, declaring the public transportation system to be dirty and beneath their lifestyle, but Lena had refused. She didn't want any reason to stand out now that she had started classes at a college where nobody knew her. At the boarding school that Lena had been forced away to for most of her education, everybody knew of her family's reputation. Now, on a campus of twenty thousand people, Lena made sure that only the teachers knew her last name.  


She reached her room and kicked off her shoes, shedding her jacket and bag onto the bed before collapsing down beside them. Rolling onto her back, she stared up at the glow-in-the-dark stars she had stuck onto the ceiling at the age of ten. Lillian had vehemently disagreed at her putting them up, claiming they were ‘ridiculously tacky’, but she had never made her remove them.  


As Lena looked at the stars, it occurred to her that her mother had a point about the tackiness - not that she particularly cared. There wasn't much about the room besides the plastic stars that invoked in Lena a sense of ownership. She hadn't even wanted to move back into the house after graduating high school, and had argued fiercely for the right to live on campus, to no avail. Her mother feared that Lena would be drawn into the irresponsible world of college parties, which, according to Lillian Luthor’s narrow world view, constituted a direct line to dropping out of college and becoming a bum.  


And it made no difference that Lex had been allowed to live on campus during his stint at higher education - before he'd been busted by Superman for making bombs in the university lab - and attempting to blow up the campus, not to mention the man of steel himself, when the hero had come swooping in to stop him.  


If Lena's father had brought fame to the Luthor family name, with the LuthorCorp’s extraordinary advances in technology, than Lex had tarnished it with infamy.  


But that had been nearly four years ago, and she didn't think that her mother expected her to start building explosive devices if she lived on campus. More likely, Lillian just wanted to keep a tight leash on Lena, like she always had.  


Sighing, Lena flipped back onto her stomach and reached inside her bag, feeling for her phone. She pulled it out and swiped the lock screen, face falling at the lack of new messages. She had hoped that Kara would make good on her promise to call her, though at the moment that hope seemed rather far-fetched. Lena wasn't even sure where exactly she stood in Kara's life - were they friends? Study buddies? Tutor and tutee? Something else?  


The question stumped Lena even more than her calculus assignments, and, unlike calculus, she didn't have Kara to help her with the problem. Though that was probably a good thing. Despite Kara’s unassuming brilliance in mathematics, her presence was often more of a hindrance than a help, since recently Lena had begun to spend an unnecessarily large amount of time wondering about Kara's current romantic entanglements, rather than doing mathematics.  


Problematic.  


Kara had also taken to teasing Lena about her love of David Bowie - something that, considering David Bowie’s iconic and underappreciated contribution to rock music, was also problematic.  


All in all, a problematic situation.  


Lena blew a strand of hair out of her face and frowned at her silent phone. She stared at the device for a few moments, willing it to buzz, but nothing happened. Letting out a groan of frustration, she tossed the phone to the side and buried her face in her pillow.  


Yes, Lena Luthor definitely had a problem.  


Not a second later her phone buzzed, the screen lighting up with a message. Lena jerked her head up, snatching the phone from where it had fallen among the bedsheets and bringing it close to her face.  


_Kara: hey, sorry about today! Winn needed my help w something_  


_Kara: think we could meet again tomorrow? maybe in the afternoon?_  


Lena knew that there was some unwritten rule about waiting to respond to a text, so as not to show too much interest, but she didn't care. Immediately she swiped the screen and opened the app to text her reply.  


_Lena: no prob :) does 3:30 work?_  


The reply came back in less than a minute.  


_Kara: awesome, sounds good_  


_Kara: hey do u want to meet at the coffee place by the science building instead of the library?_  


_Kara: only if you want_  


_Kara: :)_  


A feeling suspiciously close to joy bubbled in Lena's chest, but she retained just enough composure to type out an affirmative reply, to which Kara returned a string of emojis. She buried her face back into her pillow, this time to smother the grin that couldn't seem to leave her face.  


The equation of Kara Danvers  
was still looming large in her mind, but Lena couldn't help but smile at the thought that she might have been added as a variable.  


***  


Kara smiled briefly at her phone as she read over her last exchange with Lena. Suggesting to move to the coffee shop had been a smooth move, or at least she thought so. Kara had never been much good at that sort of courting stuff in high school - it had been hard enough for her to master the intricacies of platonic human interaction without throwing romance into the mix. She gazed at the message for a second longer, smiling, and then slid the phone into her pocket before turning to the problem spread out on her bed.  


In the light, her favorite sweatshirt looked far worse than she'd anticipated. It was riddled with rough holes, including - and she winced at the sight - several right through the family crest.  


She would either have to sew the holes up, or buy a new sweatshirt, and the second option didn't appeal to her. The hoodie had been one of her first presents from Kal El after arriving on earth, and she couldn't imagine replacing it.  


Kara was mentally calculating the amount of thread necessary for each hole when she heard footsteps coming down the hall, indicating her sister’s arrival. She ignored the sounds of the door opening and closing, until she heard her sister call from the living room.  


“Kara?”  


“Mmhm?” She had moved on to calculating how long it would take, with super speed, to sew up each hole, assuming she didn't break the needle.  


“Come here for a sec?”  


“Coming!” Kara tore her eyes away from the sweatshirt and picked it up, grimacing at its ruined state, before chucking it onto her dresser. She'd put it away later.  


She found Alex staring incredulously at the coffee table. Her sister looked confused, as if she thought a joke was possibly being played on her, but couldn't imagine why.  


When Kara arrived, Alex met her eyes and then pointed to the direction of the coffee table - or rather, it's leg.  


“That's what you call fixing the coffee table?” She asked, eyebrows raised.  


Kara’s gaze followed her finger, and she winced. It did look bad, but she thought she could have done much worse, considering she'd slapped it together in fifteen minutes, before Alex had gotten home.  


She hadn't been able to find a matching replacement leg, never mind a hammer and nails, so she'd been forced to use a hot glue gun she had found under the kitchen sink. The force of her kick that morning had splintered the wood into dozens of tiny pieces, so Kara had to effectively push the whole thing together and then coat the mess with glue, holding it in place until it dried. The result looked not unlike the mass of dried sap sometimes found on the trunk of a tree; misshapen and messily uneven, but hard as rock.  


“Um.” Kara swallowed. “The hardware store was closed?”  


Alex looked at her in disbelief, and then sighed and collapsed on the couch. “I’m not even going to start with that excuse. You’re lucky I'm too exhausted to care.”  


Kara exhaled in relief at her sister’s acceptance, and sunk into the couch beside her. “Rough day? Oh, and you didn't happen to get the paper, did you?”  


“No, I was too busy, but if you want the crossword I can pick one up tomorrow.”  


Kara nodded, chest filling with relief. “That's fine, I can get a copy at school.”  


Alex tossed her purse onto the cushion beside her, and tucked her legs into her chest. “Oh, and I talked to Clark today.”  


“Really?” Kara’s breath caught. She found herself torn between excitement and dread. “About…?”  


“Your ‘activities’.” Alex gave Kara a hard look. “And don't think that I put you in a good light. He's worried too, you know. Says you're a little young to be taking up the superhero gig.”  


Kara's heart sank. “That's all he said?”  


Her sister’s expression softened. “No, he also said that he misses you and wants to visit sometime. And that he's onboard with the idea of testing your abilities - and I should add that I did not argue very convincingly for the one.”  


“Yes!” Kara punched her fist elatedly in the air, with enough enthusiasm to send her floating several inches upwards. “Thank you thank you Alex, you're the best!”  


Alex's lips quirked in amusement at her sister's enthusiasm, before she reached up to yank her back down to the couch.  


“Alright, alright, hold on a minute!” She waited until Kara was fully settled on the couch before continuing. “I've upheld my end of the bargain, so you've got to do yours, okay? No more crime fighting until Clark okays it.”  


“Yes, Alex, of course.” Kara rolled her eyes. “I already promised, didn't I? I'll give it a rest until he sees how great I already am at it.”  


It was Alex's turn to roll her eyes. “Yeah sure, whatever. Now, isn't it your turn to make dinner?”  


“You mean order?”  


“A moot question. I know you can't cook.”  


Kara grinned and dove into the kitchen for the takeaway menus pinned up on the fridge. Alex sighed and leaned back against the couch, setting her legs up onto the coffee table. It held for a moment, but then there was a loud _crack!_ and the broken leg split again, sending the coffee table into a tilt.  


“Ugh,” Alex groaned, and then called into the kitchen: “Kara? Bring the number for the handyman while you're at it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lena uses the word problematic way too much.
> 
> My plan is to get the next chapter up by tomorrow, but I will be fairly busy the next few days so I'm not sure how likely that will be. regardless, I will try to get it up as soon as possible!


	5. A first date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is mostly supercorp. 
> 
> Also, can I just say how happy I am to be typing this at a damn computer, instead of being forced to type out and upload chapters on my phone like some sort of caveman?
> 
> Oh, and unfortunately I have a jam-packed schedule for the next two days, so I don't know if I'll be able to get another update in before saturday. Saturday is a sure thing though.

The next day found Kara wriggling her way into the crowded cafe well before three-thirty, determined to stake out a booth for herself and Lena. She finally found one, tucked into a corner, and slid into the faux-leather seat with a victorious grin, before busying herself with pulling out the pertinent assignments for their study session. Her ears were idly half-tuned to the mass of students packed into the cafe, and after several minutes of shuffling papers the sound of approaching footsteps reached her ears. Kara looked up, beaming.

“Hi, Le...na...” The smile melted into a frown of confusion, as someone who was definitely not Lena slid into the seat across from her. “Winn?”

“Surprised to see me?” Her friend grinned, and loudly slurped from what appeared to be some sort of extremely sugary coffee-flavored drink. 

“Um, _yeah_ ,” Kara said with a flash of annoyance. “I’m waiting for Lena. We’re supposed to study together.”

“Ooh, what are you guys studying? Is it biology? Because if so, I could definitely use some help -”

“ _Winn_ ,” Kara hissed pointedly, before giving an anxious glance over the crowd, checking if Lena had entered yet. “It’s a study date. _Date_.”

“A study - _ooh_.” Winn’s eyes widened, and he froze, straw in his mouth, before lowering the drink to the table and leaning forward. “Really? You mean - like, you, and - her? Together?”

“That’s the goal,” Kara answered dryly, and then frowned, a wave of uncertainty suddenly washing over her. “At least, I hope. I thought, maybe - I don’t know. That if we studied at the cafe instead of the library, it’d seem more like a date. Wouldn’t that seem like a date to you?”

She reached up to touch her glasses nervously, and then looked back at her friend, who still appeared to be trying to absorb the news.

“Whoa, okay,” He leaned back in his seat and let out a long breath of air, considering. “Wow, um, okay. That’s - yeah. I could see that as a date. I guess I just didn’t see, you know, you and her - dating?”

“You don’t see it?” Kara asked, and her voice turned fretful. “What, you mean like you don’t think it’d work? Like you don’t see us together?”

“No, no!” Winn held his hands up in defense. “That’s not what I meant at all! Kara, I barely know Lena. I probably just missed the signs, that’s all. I’m sure you two would be -” He swallowed. “- great together.”

Kara sighed in relief, and then jerked upright as she heard the jangling bell, indicating the cafe door being opened, followed by the sound of a very familiar set of footsteps. 

“She’s here!” Kara said in a loud whisper, though Lena was all the way across the cafe and couldn’t possibly hear her. “Okay, Winn, I’m sorry but you’ve gotta go!”

“How did you know she was -” He whipped his head around towards the entrance, only to see that Lena had, in fact, entered the building. “Oh, wow. You’re good.”

“Dude, go!” She shooed Winn out of the booth, just as Lena caught her eye and began to approach, smiling.

“Okay, okay!” Winn grumbled, grabbing his drink as he stumbled out of the booth. He straightened up and turned towards the direction of the exit, and then spun back towards Kara.

“Oh, wait, I forgot that I came over here to tell you something!” He leaned down towards Kara, gripping the side of the table. “About our, um, failed experiment yesterday. Listen, I have another idea!”

“Really?” Kara said distractedly, as she waved Lena over. “What is it?” She hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

“Too long to explain now,” Winn muttered, glancing out of the corner of his eye towards Lena, who was dodging her way between oblivious students. “Can I come over later, maybe, and explain? Like say tonight?”

“Yeah, of course,” Kara answered quickly. “I’ll be back by six, okay? Just come over whenever, Alex won’t mind.”

“Great!” Winn broke into an enthusiastic smile, and threw a thumbs up.

“Awesome, now -” Kara raised one eyebrow and gestured urgently towards the exit. Winn took the hint and spun on his heel, nearly bumping into a close bystander before disappearing into the mass of people, just as Lena squeezed her way between an overly affectionate couple to arrive at Kara’s booth.

“Hey you,” She greeted Kara, flopping down into the seat that Winn had vacated only moments before. “Was that Winn I just saw? I was about to say hi, but he disappeared.”

“Oh yeah, he had to get going,” Kara said dismissively, staring at Lena’s smile with a slightly dreamy expression. “I’m glad you could make it though.”

“I’m glad you could get us a booth,” Lena replied with a cheeky grin. “I forgot how crowded this place gets in the afternoons.”

“Uh, yeah.” Kara frowned, pushing her glasses back up her nose. “We could go somewhere quieter, if you want - if it’s too distracting.”

“No, don’t worry about it. I kind of like the atmosphere.” Lena reached into her bag for her books, not noticing Kara’s fallen expression at the refusal. “So, current events?”

“Right,” Kara repeated unenthusiastically. “Current events.”

She rummaged around in her bag, pulling out the half-finished notes from yesterday’s session. The outline due on Friday was meant to eventually become a full analytical paper covering a piece of local news, and the whole project made Kara blanche with fear. It combined everything she dreaded in her schoolwork - writing, reading sources in high-level english, and a native’s understanding of history and current events, which frankly, Kara just didn’t possess.

As she set the necessary papers on the table, she found that Lena had brought out a collection of newspaper articles on the table, unfolding the pages and flattening the wrinkled paper with her hands. None of the articles looked to be more than a few days old - in fact, most looked as if they’d been taken from yesterday’s newspaper.

Kara blinked, taken aback at the gesture. “Did you - did you get these all for me?”

Lena looked up met her eyes, and then blushed. “Um, I thought it might help you. You know, to figure out what kind of news story you’d like to analyse. I’ve got a bunch of different recent examples here, and we can go over them and see which ones stand out to you.”

“Wow, that’s…” Kara paused, struggling to find the right words. “That’s really thoughtful of you, Lena. I don’t think anybody’s ever put that much effort into tutoring me before - not even my sister, and she basically kept me from flunking all of high school.”

Lena cover her mouth with her palm to stifle an uncharacteristic giggle, causing Kara’s cheeks to go pink.

“Um, anyway,” She cleared her throat loudly, and pulled one of the newspapers towards her, trying to ignore the warm glow that had ignited in her chest at the sound of her friend’s laugh. “Let’s see what you’ve got for me?”

“Sure,” Lena agreed quickly, her voice slightly flustered,and pushed another article across the table. The action caused her fingers to brush over Kara’s hand in a way that didn’t seem entirely accidental. “Um, these are mostly from yesterday’s paper, but there are a few from the day before as well. Look them over and tell me what type of story stands out to you.”

Kara did as she said, casting her gaze over the array of articles, and almost immediately her eyes fell upon a familiar story - the front page article Winn had showed her the day before, detailing the unsuccessful robbery. She paused for a moment, taking in the headline. She hadn’t thought about it yesterday, but it felt rather surreal to read about her own exploits in the detached, formal wording of a news article.

Lena followed her gaze to the article, and as her eyes landed upon the headline she frowned. “Is that the one you want to focus on?”

The disapproval in her voice was clear, enough to snap Kara out of her momentary trance, zeroing in on her friend’s unfavorable expression. “Why, is there something wrong with it?”

“No,” She said, in a tone that implied the exact opposite. “It’s just...it might be hard to connect a story about a crime-fighting vigilante to wider news.”

“Why?” Kara asked, a hint of contention in her voice. “It’s a story about a superhero. Superheros are global news; look at Superman.”

“Yes, but I would hardly call some small town vigilante operating outside the law a _superhero_.” Lena pronounced the word with distaste. “I mean, why would you let some random guy go out and enforce the law?”

It took all of Kara’s willpower not to bristle at the comment.

“Well, maybe they’re doing a job that the police aren’t able to do,” She said slowly, resisting the urge to snap a sharp retort. She couldn’t let Lena think she cared too much about the issue, lest she get suspicious. She would have to play calm, as if it were simply an interesting debate point - though a part of her was itching to start listing off every crime she’d foiled in the past few months without police intervention. “It’s not like the police department can stop every single crime in this neighborhood, every night. I bet they could use the help.”

Lena didn’t look very convinced. “Maybe, but I doubt they want help from some vigilante running around half-cocked, fighting crime on their own terms.”

“Oh, and how do you know?” Kara snapped irritably, and immediately regretted it. Lena raised an eyebrow, surprised at her friend’s outburst.

“How do _you_ know?” She challenged. “It says right in the article that the police don’t want somebody operating outside the law.”

Kara felt her face flushing again, this time out of anger. “Superman operates outside the law, and nobody seems to mind.”

“Well, Superman has all sorts of powers, so I don’t think the police could do anything about that even if they wanted to,” Lena responded dryly.

“Well it says in the article that this person has powers too!”

“According to a criminal who told his story while drugged up on pain meds.”

“That doesn’t mean he was lying!”

“It doesn’t necessarily imply that he knew what he was saying, either.”

They were at an impasse. The two girls glared at one another, Kara’s eyes sparking with defensive anger, while Lena’s were hard with determination, her mouth set. They stayed like that for a few seconds, neither speaking, until Lena gave an exasperated sigh and dropped her gaze.

“Maybe we should reschedule for another day.” She began to gather up the articles, but Kara reached out a hand to stop her.

“No, Lena, wait,” She pleaded. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. It just happens to be an issue I really care about, and sometimes I get too overzealous trying to prove my point.”

Lena hesitated, and then pulled her hand back, leaving the newspapers in place. “I guess I was being rather rude as well. I have a bad habit of jumping into debates too quickly. My mother says I’m far too stubborn for my own good.”

“Me too!” Kara said. “At least, that’s what my sister, Alex says. That I get too stuck in certain points of view.”

“Guess we’re two peas of the same pod.” Lena flashed a small smile. Kara returned it with a measure of relief, which vanished almost immediately under the next question.

“So why do you care so much about vigilantism?”

“Um, well,” Kara stalled, and reached up to fidget with her glasses, trying to think of an answer. “I guess I’m just...a good citizen? And I don’t think that the police have enough manpower, or aren’t well-trained enough to take on everything in the streets nowadays - I mean, think about the fact that Superman fights aliens on a weekly basis.”

“That may be true,” Lena conceded. “But you really think the best course of action is to put the law in the hands of people outside of it, with no training or experience, and who don’t operate under any authority?”

Kara thought for a moment, considering the question. “I guess...I think that there are certain people who are qualified, who can work outside the law for the good of the people. Like Superman, for instance. He’s really powerful, and he uses his abilities to work for the good of everyone, and even works alongside the police a lot of the time.” 

“Hmm.” Lena was silent for a few seconds as she chewed Kara’s comment over. “I’ll accept that. But I _highly_ doubt that our neighborhood vigilante meets those qualifications.”

Kara huffed under her breath. “We’ll see about that.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing,” She answered quickly, and sat up in her seat, grabbing one of the nearest, non-vigilante related articles. “Let’s take a look at the other articles you brought. I’m thinking something a little less debate-provoking, like sports.”

Lena smirked. “So we’ll stay away from the editorials?”

“Exactly.”

***

They worked well past the rush hour of the cafe, and by the time night had fallen and the street lamps had lit up the campus walkways, they had managed to power their way through both Kara’s outline as well as Lena’s calculus homework. The cafe had slowly emptied of people, until only the serious students remained, bent over laptops or poring over packets of papers. 

They exited the cafe side by side, shivering in the frigid night air - or, in Kara’s case, pretending to shiver. She glanced over at Lena, who was clearly feeling the effects of the cold, trembling in a light jacket, and shed her own immediately, draping it over the other girl’s shoulders.

“Kara, you didn’t have to do that,” Lena said, though the chattering of her teeth betrayed the intended sentiment. She went to hand it back, but Kara reached out a hand to stop her.

“It’s fine, I run hot,” She assured her. “Also you’re really pale, so I won’t be able to tell if you get hypothermia or something.”

“Haha, very funny,” Lena replied, and then gave a teasing smirk. “I think we’re parting ways here though, so I might have to take your jacket home with me.”

“Fine by me,” Kara said with a grin. “Consider it payment for those really cool sunglasses you let me borrow.”

“You still have those?” Lena asked in surprise. They were one pair of several she’d made a few years ago, for a school science project - lenses that protected against the sunlight during the day, and then worked in reverse at night, allowing the wearer to see clearly - or at least, clear enough - in the darkness. “But I’ve never seen you wear them.”

“Oh yeah, I actually, uh, keep them mostly in my room,” Kara stammered. “You know, for safekeeping, since they’re one of a kind. I do wear them sometimes though.”

It wasn’t a lie, or at least not entirely. Kara did indeed keep the sunglasses in her room for safekeeping, but she had been wearing them almost nightly in her crime fighting endeavors, partially to keep her eyes concealed, so as not to risk discovery, and partially because they were, in fact, surprisingly useful.

“Well I suppose it’s not the season,” Lena replied, and hugged Kara’s coat close around her. “I expect to see them constantly on your face next summer, though.”

“If you insist,” Kara laughed, the sound resonating in the cold night air. “I’ll even wear them to sleep.”

Lena grinned. “I’m gonna hold you to that, you know.”

“Wouldn’t expect anything less.”

They laughed, standing for a moment under the streetlight that indicated where their paths were meant to diverge. They hesitated for a second, and suddenly Kara found herself gazing into Lena’s bright green eyes, sparkling with the reflection from the light above. Such was her transfixion that she didn’t realize that they had begun to lean into each other, Lena’s eyes caught on hers, as their bodies drew inexorably closer. 

Kara took a sharp intake of breath as the moment caught up to her, and the realization hit: _Am I really about to - ?_

The thought was enough to break the spell, a moment of panic forcing its way into Kara’s brain. She hesitated, and then wrapped her arms around Lena, embracing her in a tight hug.

They parted after a few seconds, Kara flushing with embarrassment, and she could have sworn she saw a hint of disappointment flash across Lena’s face, before it smoothed into a friendly, if slightly awkward smile.

“Well, good night Kara,” She said, and bit her lip, unsure what else to say.

“Good night,” Kara responded, her face still pink, and for the first time wished that invisibility had been one of the powers granted to her by the yellow sun. “And thanks for helping me out. I had a fun time.”

“Me too,” Lena said, and then, finding nothing else to say, added: “See you tomorrow, maybe?”

“Sure thing.” Kara nodded, fidgeting nervously, and then, unable to bear the awkwardness a second longer, she blurted out, “I’ll text you or call you or something anyway bye Lena good night!” And turned immediately on her heel, setting off in the direction of home, her cheeks burning with mortification.

Lena watched her go, forehead creased as she twisted her watch distractedly around her wrist. She waited until Kara disappeared into the darkness before sighing wistfully and turning in the direction of the bus station. She walked slowly, kicking a pebble down the walk as she replayed the memory over and over in her mind, examining the incident from all sides, and checking every variable. It was frustrating, for though she ran the image over again and again in her head, she kept coming back to the same conclusion.

Lena couldn’t be absolutely sure, but she had the unshakeable feeling that Kara Danvers had been about to kiss her.

***

Kara slammed the door as she came in, her face dangerously close to a sulk as she kicked her shoes off and collapsed onto the couch. Alex raised her eyebrows questioningly at her from the kitchen, where she was busy stirring a pot of pasta.

“You look like you’re about to bite somebody’s head off,” She remarked, and then winced as Kara shot her a venomous glare. “Hey, I’m not talking about mine. You wanna talk about it?”

Kara crossed her arms, and tilted her head back, staring grumpily at the ceiling. “No, not really.”

Alex eyed her for a moment, debating internally, and chose not to push it. “Well, dinner’s almost ready, so I hope you’re hungry.”

“I’m always hungry,” Kara grumbled, eyes still on the ceiling as she watched the scene over again in her mind. She was such an idiot! Had she imagined Lena’s disappointed look after the fact? Maybe it had been the right idea not to kiss her - Kara was terrible at reading social cues, and particularly romantic ones. Maybe Lena was relieved that they’d only hugged, and Kara was just reading too much into the friendship.

She closed her eyes, trying to shut out the frustrating thoughts, and stretched out her hearing, searching for the calming thump of Alex’s heartbeat. She found it easily, steady as always, and then frowned as another heartbeat reached her ears, this one farther down the hall - 

Kara shot up straight on the couch, eyes flying open. “Oh shoot! Is Winn here?”

Alex shot her a slightly confused look. “Yeah, I was actually just about to tell you. He came in a few minutes ago, and I said he could hang out in your room till you got home. Thanks for telling me about the invite, by the way - as if I don’t barely have enough food to feed your appetite.”

Kara lurched to her feet, not listening. “I forgot I told him he could come over! Ugh, I feel so bad, I didn’t mean to get in this late!”

Alex waved her hand dismissively. “I’m sure the kid’s fine. You always used to have him over, anyway. He’s probably passed out on your bed or something.”

Kara took off down the hall, touching her glasses to make sure that she hadn’t taken them off out of habit, before swinging her door open.

Winn was not fast asleep on her bed, as Alex had suggested. Instead, he was standing with his back to her, examining something on her dresser. At the sound of the door he turned around, pulling whatever was on the dresser with him.

Kara froze at the sight before her. Winn was staring at her, his mouth agape in shock. Her blue Superman sweatshirt, still riddled with bullet holes, hung limply in his hands. She stood, stunned, her brain working furiously to come up with an excuse, but finding none. Her eyes darted helplessly between him and the sweatshirt, watching as the fabric slipped slowly out of his fingers and fell to the floor. 

“You - you -” Winn squeaked out at last. “You’re her.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the people who leave comments and kudos - thank you! I love you all, you are all very amazing and talented people, and you give me motivation to ignore my friends and family to write.


	6. Deepening investigations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm sorry this took quite a bit longer for me to put up than my last chapters. To be honest, I had a hard time writing this, and I ended up writing and rewriting big chunks of it multiple times, hence why it took me like three days. Also, to make up for the delay, it's longer than the last few chapters!
> 
> I have a pretty good idea of where the story is going now and how the plot points will start to tie together, so you're going to start seeing the the separate storylines interact in the next few chapters. Also, unfortunately, I may be pretty busy at work this week, so I don't know if I'll be able to maintain my schedule off updating every day, but I'll do what I can :)

Maggie sat at her desk, chewing thoughtfully on the end of a pen. She leaned back haphazardly in her chair, staring at the clear ziploc bag sitting in front of her, a printed page stapled to its side. Sethers stood next to her, hands jammed in his pockets, rocking back and forth ever so slightly on the heels of his shoes as he waited for his partner to speak.

The bag contained several expended bullets, collected from the scene of a foiled robbery that had taken place two nights before. The bullets had been grimy and tarnished from when they’d been plucked from the streets, but forensics had returned the samples clean, having picked off every little trace of DNA that could possibly be found.

Still, they hadn’t been able to do anything about the fact that the rounds were completely flattened, crumpled in the way college kid might smash a beer can against his forehead. Maggie had never seen anything like it.

A good minute passed in silence as the two cops stared in silence, until at last Sethers cleared his throat, and spoke. 

“Do you really believe the forensic team’s analysis?”

Maggie pursed her lips, frowning. “I don’t know.”

Sethers frowned. “Why not? I mean, Bill’s an expert.”

“Maybe,” She said reluctantly. “But doesn’t it seem a little far-fetched to you? I mean, I’m not an expert in forensics, but even Bill admitted that they amount of DNA they recovered was minuscule.”

“Yeah, but he’s the first analyst we’ve had that specializes in alien forensics, and his reputation sort of precedes him” Sethers reminded her.

“He’s also a Superman groupie,” Maggie retorted. “Yesterday I had to listen to him ramble for half an hour on this crockpot theory that Superman was secretly gathering people with special abilities to make a league, or something. It was pretty wild.”

“Okay, that is a little crazy,” Sethers admitted. “But even if the guy’s a little cuckoo, he’s got a reputation for a reason. I mean, the guy was the first person to study Superman’s DNA! And to be honest, his analysis kind of makes sense.”

Maggie shrugged half-heartedly, unconvinced.

Her partner jabbed a finger at the bullets enclosed in the ziploc bag. “C’mon, you can’t tell me you’ve seen something like those before. They look like they collided with a brick wall, but the guy admitted he fired at a _person_. The only person I know that could do that to a bullet is Superman.”

“Yeah, except Superman is in Metropolis.” Maggie crossed her arms, and sighed. “Okay, I see your point, I do. And I’ll admit that I should probably trust the opinion of the guy who basically invented forensic alien analysis. But if our vigilante really is an alien, than he’s not just a nuisance anymore - he’s a big fucking problem.”

“She,” Sethers corrected. “The perp said it was a girl.”

“Great, that narrows it down,” Maggie snorted. “So now we’ve got some alien chick running around playing crimefighter with no regard to the law, who probably has the same powers as Superman.”

Sethers frowned, running a hand through his short hair. “Well, I mean when you put it like that…”

“...It sounds like a big fucking issue?” Maggie finished, one eyebrow raised. “That’s because it is. I mean, you saw what she did to that guy’s leg. She’s obviously not above injuring her would-be criminals, so we can’t rule out that she wouldn’t do a lot more.”

“Please,” Sethers waved his hand dismissively. “I think if she wanted to kill ‘em we’d be seeing a lot more bodies by now. It’s been months, and this is the first time she’s even injured somebody. She usually just leaves ‘em tied up for us.”

“Yeah, like that’s not embarrassing,” Maggie muttered under breath, and then leaned forward, tearing the printed page of analysis off the ziploc bag. At a normal volume, she said, “Whatever. Let’s just see if Bill left us anything useful.”

She unfolded the page, flattening it with her hand before holding it up so that Sethers could read over her shoulder. Silently, they scanned the document.

**Sample type: trace DNA taken from spent bullets left at scene of crime, and clothing fibers found on two of the bullets.**

**Summary of analysis: The provided bullets were found in an unusual shape - each round was crumpled and almost flat, as if the bullet had collided with an extremely strong surface, though first-hand report indicates that the rounds were discharged in the direction of a person. Chances of the validity of this account are high, as trace amounts of DNA were recovered from each round, along with miniscule cotton fibers in the color blue which, once examined, appeared to originate from an article of clothing. Tests were run to check if the DNA traces matched samples in the city’s criminal database, and though the results came back negative, further testing revealed the DNA traces to be, in fact, not of human origin. After intense examination, analysis has determined the DNA to be closely match that of Kryptonian DNA - which lends to the conclusion that the DNA belongs to something alien, rather than human.**

Maggie reached the end of the report, and frowned. “What the hell is a Kryptonian?” She muttered, tossing the page back onto the desk.

“Um, I think that’s what Superman is,” Sethers answered, with just the slightest hint of excitement. Maggie’s head whipped around, and she shot him a glare.

“Mike Sethers, do not tell me that you are a Superman groupie.”

Sethers hesitated, and then hung his head. “Okay, so maybe Bill and I talk,” He admitted. “I mean, I know Superman is technically operating outside the law and as a police officer that’s bad, but, well - you gotta admit he’s kind of awesome.”

Maggie rolled her eyes, unimpressed. She had never been the type of person to romanticize things, and superheroes were no exception. In her mind, the only difference between a vigilante and a superhero was that law enforcement couldn’t stop the superhero. She respected what Superman had done for Metropolis, but that didn’t mean that she trusted him to preside over justice - she just couldn’t do anything about it.

But she might be able to do something about this vigilante. 

“Let’s not get starry-eyed here,” Maggie said, reaching again for the report. “Alien DNA or no, this person is still operating outside the law, and unless they turn out to be Superman in disguise, that means we gotta be on their tail. So let’s figure out some leads.”

She looked the report over again, frowning. “You know, Bill focuses a lot on the alien DNA part, but he doesn’t say anything about the fibers. I wonder why.”

“Maybe he didn’t think it was necessary,” Her partner offered. “I mean, we know from firsthand accounts that our guy - girl - wears a blue hoodie. So if he identified the fibers as blue cotton, he probably didn’t feel like he had to add anything else.”

“Hmm,” Maggie stared off into the distance, considering. “That doesn’t help us much - if those reports are true, then that’s a sweatshirt that you can buy at pretty much every Walmart in the country. Remind me what else the perp said?”

“Okay, um - he said the vigilante was definitely a girl, probably blond, and wore sunglasses over a grey ski mask - which is kind of a weird combo if you ask me.”

“A grey ski mask…” Maggie murmured, tucking her hand under chin. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a grey ski mask in a store before. Only black.”

Sethers shrugged. “I have. They have them at the university bookstore, though I can’t imagine why. My cousin bought one for a skiing trip last year. I think it’s actually a pretty smart color, ‘cuz you probably won’t get it confused with somebody else’s.”

Maggie spun around, so fast she felt a crick in her neck. “The university bookstore?”

“Yeah...” Sethers looked at her in confusion, and then understanding dawned upon his face. “Oh, you don’t think…?”

“That it’s a student? Exactly,” Maggie jolted upright, sending her chair skittering back, right into her partner. 

“Hey, careful!” He grumbled, but she wasn’t listening. Instead she lunged to old-fashioned coat rack by the door, snatching her jacket from where it’s place.

“Right, so I’m heading to the bookstore to see if we can get a list of the people who bought grey ski masks in the past several months. We’ll cross check and see if we can find someone matching our description, and hopefully go from there. In the meantime, I want you to stay here and see if you can find any other stores that sell grey ski masks. If the bookstore doesn’t pan out, we’ll go through those.” She delivered the instructions in a brisk tone, all business as she shrugged her coat over her shoulders and turned towards the door. Now that she had a lead, she could feel her uncertainty vanish and her adrenaline rise. The problem had become clear in her head, and Maggie was itching to solve it. She was always at her best when chasing a lead.

Sethers rubbed the back of his neck, his expression doubtful. “Do you really think we can find our person just on a ski mask?”

Maggie was already halfway out the door but she paused, turned to face him, and shrugged. “Honestly? It’s a long shot, but it’s our only lead at the moment - and I want to put a lid on this thing as quickly as possible. I don’t like the idea of somebody with powers running around out there, doing whatever she wants. We gotta find her, and make her understand that her activities aren’t benefiting the community the way she thinks.”

Sethers let this sink in for a moment, and then nodded in agreement. “Okay, point taken. I’ll get on that search.”

Maggie flashed him a grin. “See ya later, Sethers - and don't forget to update me.” Then she spun on her heel and slipped out the door, mind already buzzing at the thought of victory.

***

Winn was gawking at Kara.

His mouth moved soundlessly, as the incriminating sweatshirt lay crumpled at his feet, having slipped moments before from his limp fingers.

“No it's not that - it’s not what you think!” Kara said, thoughts scrambling. Before Winn could respond she lunged forward, snatching the article of clothing from the floor and pushing it into an open drawer - as if stuffing the hoodie out of sight would vanquish the evidence from his mind. “Alex bought it for me, but I didn't wear it because, um, there's a mouse in my room! And then he started chewing holes in it, so I just kept it there -”

“Kara,” Winn said. “Those are _bullet_ holes.”

“It was the mouse!” She protested.

“A mouse that chewed perfectly round holes?”

“Um…yes?” 

Winn shook his head, clearly not buying the explanation. She trailed off, opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it again when nothing came to mind. It was no good. The evidence had literally been sitting in her friend’s hands. She looked at him helplessly, and in that moment knew that no excuse could adequately explain away what he had just seen; Winn was too smart, and she had been too careless.

Rao, what kind of superhero was she, if she couldn’t even keep a secret identity?

At last, Winn spoke.

“Oh my god,” He breathed. “You're a _superhero_.”

Kara looked at him, hesitating, and then gave in and sighed. “Not exactly. I don’t even have a costume. Or a name.”

Winn gaped for another moment - and then, slowly, a smile began to spread across his face, shifting his expression from shock to full blown delight.

“This. Is. Amazing.” He pronounced each word slowly, his voice laden with awe. “My best friend is a _superhero_! Oh my god, Kara, we have to get you a real costume, and an alias, and - oh my god, I am so going to help you fight crime!”

“What?” Kara said, taken aback. “No! Winn, you’re not getting involved with this!”

Winn paused, looking slightly offended. “Why not?”

“Dude, you’re human! I have powers! You’ll get hurt in like, two seconds!”

“I will not - wait a minute, human?” His brow wrinkled in confusion. “So does that mean you’re an alien? Oh no, wait; are you like Superman?” 

It was in moments like these that Kara was remineded just how perceptive Winn really was. She groaned, throwing her hands up in the air, and decided that she might as well surrender the last of her secrets. “Sort of? I’m uh, his cousin.”

Winn’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “No way,” He exclaimed. “You have _got_ to introduce me to him. Does this mean you guys are gonna start doing team ups?”

“Team ups?” Kara asked. “No! I’m not doing anything. _We’re_ not doing anything. I’m on a break, and even if I weren’t, I’m not gonna bring you crime fighting with me, ‘cuz it’s too dangerous.”

“Um, what do you mean you’re on a break?” Winn asked in confusion. “You literally stopped a robbery, like two days ago. That was you, right?”

“Yes!” Kara said in frustration, and then sighed, pushing her glasses up her nose. “No! I mean, of course it was, but then Alex found out and got super mad, and made me promise to stop, because apparently I’m ‘too young to be a superhero’.” The last part was accompanied by air quotes.

Winn’s eyebrows rose in disbelief. “If Superman is invincible, then aren’t you too?”

“Yeah, not that it makes a difference to her,” Kara growled, and ran a hand through her hair. “Alex still treats me like I’m in high school.”

“But that’s not fair!” He protested. “Kara, you have powers just like Superman, so you have every right to fight crime like he does! You can’t let your sister tell you what to do!”

“I know!” Kara said, her voice full of frustration. “But Alex made me _promise_ to stop, and anyway, she has a point, about me not being ready. At the last robbery, I broke a guy’s leg on accident, and I _can’t_ make a mistake like that again. I need to figure out how to get better at this stuff, but I don’t know how - and I don’t have anyone to help me.”

“Um, yes, you do have someone to help you,” Winn said, and jabbed a thumb at his chest. “Me!”

Kara cast him a look of complete and utter disbelief. “No offense, Winn, but how can you help me?”

“Uh, lots of ways!” He said emphatically. “I can be your backup - your man in the chair, the guy who designs your costume and gives you a cool alias and has a ton of really cool tech -”

“Okay, first of all, you’re not picking my superhero name,” Kara interjected. “And how do you expect to help me train if you don’t know anything about my abilities?”

“Well, duh, you’d tell me,” Winn gave her a caustic look. “Listen, if you want to be an official superhero, you need help right? Well, I’m your man! I can help you develop a really cool suit, and we can figure out ways to test your powers, and I can run all kinds of battle simulations to figure out your combat weaknesses -”

“I don’t know,” Kara said hesitantly, though her friend’s words had hatched a small glow of excitement in her chest. Perhaps Winn was the missing key she needed to make her dream a reality - and after all, didn’t every superhero have some kind of support system, friends and partners who helped them fight crime? Kara knew that Clark had at least two people who knew his secret and assisted him in his role - so why shouldn’t she have the same?

“I promised Alex I’d give the crime fighting a rest,” She responded at last, though even to herself the argument sounded pale and unconvincing. Deep inside, she knew that Alex would always want her to hide her abilities, blend in among the crowds, become human. No matter how many times she said ‘when you’re ready’, Kara knew that she really meant never.

“You _would_ be giving it a rest,” Winn said, eyes bright with excitement. “But you didn’t say for how long, right?”

“Um...not exactly,” Kara admitted. 

“So, great! We’ll start with training, and we’ll wait until you’re ready to go back out onto the streets,” He explained eagerly. “It’ll be perfect - you’ll train for a while, Alex will stop being suspicious, and then bam! Full-blown superhero back on the street, ready to kick ass!”

Kara smiled at her friend’s enthusiasm, though her thoughts were conflicted. On one hand, she didn’t want to break her promise to Alex - and she had really promised her that she would wait until Kal El came to train her. But then again, who knew when that would be? Her cousin was busy, and it could easily be months before he made it to the city - and Kara didn’t want to wait months. Besides, did it matter if Kal El was the one training her, or someone else? The important part was that she was training to become a real superhero, and not just running around in a hoodie and ski mask. The spirit of the law, if not the letter.

“Okay -” Kara began, and Winn immediately pumped his fist in the air at his perceived victory. 

“- I’ll _think_ about it,” She finished, and watched as Winn’s formerly exuberant expression fell. 

“Kara,” He whined. “You can’t keep me in suspense like that! You know I’m right! Don’t you want to keep the streets of the city safe?”

“Stop pouting,” Kara said, though her voice was teasing. “I just need time to think about it, okay? If Alex finds out about this, she’ll literally skewer me. And I don’t want to keep fighting with her.”

“Fine,” Winn let out a breath in disappointment. “But I’m giving you until tomorrow, got it? I wanna start designing your suit.”

“Oh god,” Kara rolled her eyes in mock horror. “Winn, if you put me in a mini skirt, I will kill you with my heat vision.”

Her friend blanched. “Heat vision - ? And, um, how short would you consider mini?”

“Don’t test me, Winn.”

***

Maggie stepped out of the office, absentmindedly rubbing the back of her neck as she glanced down the hallway. She could feel a tension headache building up, and she sighed; it had been an abominably long afternoon, first at the university bookstore, as she’d tried to convince the manager to give her a list of the people who had purchased grey ski masks in the past six months or so, and then at the campus office, trying to scare up information about the names she had procured.

Maggie turned down the hallway and stepped into the elevator, glancing at the list of names in her hand, along with the sheath of photocopied school IDs. After a lengthy discussion the Dean had finally reluctantly allowed her access to the school’s student data records; only once Maggie had explained that she just needed the basic information, and a picture - something she could find on Facebook anyway, but with much more hassle. The result was the sheath of papers now clutched in her hands.

In the end, it wasn't that long of a list, all things considered. Of the two hundred or so customers who had made the purchase, only about twenty matched the description provided by the injured criminal, which narrowed the source down considerably.

But still, twenty names would make for a lengthy search, and as Maggie stepped out of the building and into the dusky evening, she realized that it was too late to start her search that day. She still had to get back to the station, and finish filing the paperwork she'd been putting off in order to investigate. 

She sighed, and stuffed the papers into her coat pocket. She'd have to wait until tomorrow morning. In the meantime, though, she would call Sethers and get that update. 

As if on queue, her phone rang: Sethers. Maggie shook her head, smiling; the man really did have perfect timing. She swiped to accept the call and jammed her phone between her ear and shoulder, sticking her hands back into her coat pockets to shield them from the chill.

“Sethers, my man. What's up? How’s the search?”

“Not so lucky on my end, but I take it you've found something?”

Maggie laughed. “How'd you know?”

“We’ve worked together for four years, Maggie. You only call me ‘dude’ or ‘my man’ when you've got something. So how'd the lead pan out?”

“Not bad,” She answered, grinning in spite of herself. “I've got a list of names and addresses, and I even convinced the Dean to turn over their student ID photos, so we don't have to spend hours searching Facebook and Instagram.”

“Oh thank god.” The relief in her partner’s voice was palpable. “After that last vandalism thing, I don't think I can even look at another college party album. It makes me depressed for the future of our country.”

Maggie chuckled. “Well this time we get to skip right to the door-to-door. I'm heading back now to finish up today's paperwork, and I figure we’ll head out tomorrow morning. Sound good?”

“Sure thing,” Her partner replied agreeably. “Sounds like a field trip.”

“Great, I'll bring the snacks,” Maggie chuckled. “Bye Sethers, see ya back at the station.”

She hung up, slipping her phone back into her pocket, and then hesitated, before pulling out the list of names again. She glanced through them, eyes falling upon the ones she had highlighted in yellow - names of blonde-haired young women who appeared to match the description of the elusive vigilante.

_Melanie Sutton_

_Whitley Morass_

_Kara Danvers_

_Bethany Gallier_

They all looked like the type of name one might expect from a rich socialite type - not the kind of girl who'd put on a mask and fight crime. Maggie walked on, too engrossed in the list to see the person rapidly approaching from the opposite direction, until they collided.

“Ow!” Maggie said, more out of surprise than anything, but the dark-haired girl had already pushed passed her. Even from behind, she looked rather flustered - she was walking hurriedly, with her head down, and, curiously, appeared to be wearing two coats.

“Hey, watch where you're going!” Maggie called out after her.

She didn't really expect a response, but to her surprise the girl glanced back and responded, “I'm sorry, I'm late for the bus!” Before hurrying on, not pausing for a moment.

Maggie shrugged, and continued on her way. Kids. Even in college, they were all the same - always rushing around, stuck in their own world. At least the girl had been polite. From the looks of it, she’d probably been smooching her boyfriend and lost track of the time.

She shook her head, a faint whisper of nostalgia ghosting her smile, and stuffed the list of names back in her pocket. Kids.

*** 

Lillian arrived home in high spirits that evening, but as the clock ticked later and later, she could feel her buoyancy slowly turned to annoyance.

Her day up until that point had been rather serendipitous. She had started that morning by closing an extraordinarily large deal with another tech company - the kind of deal that made her breath easy about the future of LuthorCorp. Things had not been easy for herself or the company since her son’s arrest, and Lillian only considered it sheer luck that she had managed to keep the company afloat while managing to continue with her secret work at CADMUS.

Along with nearly tanking the family business, Lex’s arrest had nearly blown the lid off her organization, and it had only been thanks to her quick thinking that CADMUS had been saved - she had ripped every connection to to the secret organization from her son’s crimes, before the media could pounce on the story. 

Lillian had loved her son dearly, but it had been a mistake to bring him into CADMUS. Lex had always been too much like Lionel - direct and single-minded in his intentions, but in a way that lacked a necessary subtlety. Lex could grasp the complexity of a problem, but his approach to finding a solution was always too direct, too unrefined. When Lillian had introduced her son to her organization - recognizing kindred ideas on the alien threat - she had thought she would be able to control his ambition, to direct it towards their long-term goal of expelling alien presence from earth.

Instead, Lex had stolen the best of CADMUS’s anti-Superman technology and tried to build a bomb in his dorm room, in an ill attempt to trap the man of steel and destroy him for good.

And now Lillian was still paying. The resulting media debacle had set the company back significantly, and forced her to push the work of CADMUS under the radar, so as not to draw any untoward suspicion. They had been quiet for a while, and only recently had Lillian started to greenlight more and more projects, returning to the plans they had set in motion long ago. 

Unfortunately, the appearance of a wayward vigilante had thrown another wrench in her plans. 

Lillian had been building up the alien threat for months, if not years. Quietly, she had developed and sold alien weaponry, mainly to criminals - with a discounted price to those who were aliens themselves. The work was long, and slow - and after Lex’s arrest, she had been forced to become even more subtle in her underground business dealings, so as not to arouse suspicion.

It was working, though. Polls reported that over the past couple years, anti-alien sentiment had ticked up considerably, and the public were starting to demand more and more action from the government, which was at a loss on what to do. A few more months, and Lillian knew that she would be able to confidently approach the city mayor with her carefully-refined solutions - and later, if all went well, the state government. 

However, this vigilante, if she was an alien like the reports seemed to indicate, could topple her plans in the space of a few months.

Anti-alien sentiment was rising everywhere in the country - except for Metropolis, where it was at an all-time low. It seemed that the public didn’t care who was fighting the alien menace - even if their supposed guardian was an alien himself. If another alien superhero successfully rose in National City, Lillian knew that her plan would be completely untenable. 

If she wanted to save the city, the vigilante would have to go.

Fortunately, there had been success on that front. Though Lillian’s earlier good mood had been in part due to the deal she’d closed, her best scientist at CADMUS had called her secret line just before she’d walked in the door, and confirmed that the DNA samples she’d provided from the bullets completely matched those of Superman. It seemed the man of steel had relations on earth. Luckily, he was a threat that CADMUS had been studying for years, and as a result they had an impressive catalogue of defensive weapons stored away.

Now all that was left was to determine the alien’s identity - which fortunately, her connection at the police station could help with.

Therefore, Lillian had walked through her front door with a spring in her step, and a lightness that she hadn’t felt in a while. Unfortunately, it didn’t take long for the good feeling to pass.

As she glanced at the clock, Lillian felt her irritation rising. Lena was late, and considerably so. Lillian tracked her daughter’s class schedule as a matter of course, and so knew that she had nothing that could possibly be keeping her late. 

Just as she was about to reach for her phone, ready to deliver a necessary tongue-lashing, the front door slammed open, and Lena burst through. Her cheeks were pink and her hair was in disarray, as if she’d run all the way from the bus stop.

Lillian cleared her throat and leaned against the stairwell, arms crossed. Lena looked up and froze in the middle of kicking off her shoes. Immediately, her harried look turned to one that was positively hostile.

It was amazing just how quickly teenagers could go from one to the other.

“Mother,” Lena said, her eyes flicking from her mother to the staircase. “I -”

“You’re late,” Lillian said immediately, cutting her off. “Why? And don’t try and tell me you were in class, we both know you have no afternoon classes today.”

“Um,” Lena swallowed, and kicked her remaining shoe onto the floor. “I was studying.”

“And you couldn’t study at home?” One eyebrow raised in disbelief. “I fail to see why that would require you to remain on campus.”

“I was with a study group.” 

“I wasn’t aware you were in need of a study group.”

“It’s not -” She began, and then stopped, letting out an exasperated sigh. “I was tutoring somebody. They need help in history.”

“Lena,” Her mother gave a disdainful sniff. “You know I don’t want you wasting your time tutoring other people. Their education is not your concern. You should be focusing on your own grades.”

“I am!” Lena glared at her mother, her hands balling up in frustration. “It’s not just for her, mother. She helps me with my calculus. It’s a mutually beneficial situation.”

“Hmm,” Lillian hummed, considering her words. “I wasn’t aware you needed help in calculus. I do hope you’re not letting your grades slip now that you’re in a less-structured environment.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Really, mother?” She spat. “My grades are fine, and your constant nagging is not helping me! How about you get off my back and let me have my own life?”

Lillian’s eyes hardened. “Reconsider your tone, Lena.” She spoke softly, but there was a dangerous lilt in her voice.

“Uugh!” Her daughter groaned. “Fine. I’m going to my room, so you won’t have to listen to my _tone_.” 

With that she brushed past her mother and up the stairs, stomping deliberately loud on the polished hardwood. Lillian didn’t go after her, but listened, as her daughter’s footsteps entered her room, followed by the slam of a closing door. She let out a sigh, and pinched the bridge of her nose. Try as she might, she could not understand her daughter. Lex had been so much easier. Such an obedient boy; ambitious but eager, and he had shared so much of Lillian’s view of the world. Whereas Lena was contrary, constantly sullen, and decidedly unambitious. She was expected to take over the company someday, and yet acted completely irresponsible, continually flouting the rules Lillian set for her.

Oh well. Her daughter was smart, but young, and entirely undeceptive. If she thought her mother would just let her sneak around with unfamiliar young people, doing god knows what, then she had another thing coming. Luckily, it would not be hard to uncover the identities of her daughter’s new friends - and then Lillian herself could decide just how appropriate their association was.

The sounds of the maid setting out dishes for the evening meal brought Lillian out of her reverie, and she sighed. Lena would certainly resist eating together, and this time she would not force her. Tonight, it was better that Lillian eat alone - she had some digging to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maggie doesn't like Superman groupies. And Lillian is way too controlling of a mother. I feel sorry for Lena.
> 
> Disclaimer: All my knowledge of policework comes from Brooklyn 99. I have no idea if the police can actually find a suspect based on a grey ski mask, but...Maggie can.


	7. Interrogations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for the delay, but I've had next to no time to write. I think the chapters are going to start coming every few days, just because I'll be busy with work - I'm not abandoning though! Just slowing down a bit.

The next day, Winn’s offer followed Kara around like a grey cloud that she couldn't seem to shake, making it impossible to focus on her classes - or anything else.

It even intruded upon her study session with Lena, leaving her distracted and unfocused despite her best attempts to concentrate. To be fair, Lena seemed slightly off as well - a bit snappish and foul-tempered, though it didn't seem to be directed at Kara. When she questioned Lena hesitantly, her friend turned pink-cheeked and angrily muttered something about her overbearing mother, before offering an apology, which Kara waved off. She knew plenty about having an overprotective guardian. After that, Lena’s mood lightened somewhat, and Kara tried to make more of an effort to focus, if only for her friend’s sake. 

Still, the offer nagged at the back of her mind, and it was stuck to her stubbornly, taunting her, as she traipsed into her last class of the day. Try as she might, she couldn't seem to decide; whenever she found herself wavering towards Winn’s plan, her sister's disappointed face loomed large in her mind, and the guilt pulled her back to indecisiveness. 

So as she slumped sullenly into her desk, mind running through the pros and cons for the fifteenth time that day, she didn't pay attention as Professor Grant began to speak, until the tittering of the class pulled her back to the present. 

Kara looked up from her notebook, where she'd been absentmindedly doodling her cousin’s - _her_ \- crest, and frowned, peering around at her classmates. What had she missed? The other students were rustling with interest, and inwardly she cursed her lack of attention. Unfortunately, over her years on earth, she had become too good at blocking out the world around her - at first to avoid becoming overwhelmed, and now simply out of convenience, though at the moment it was proving the opposite. 

Professor Grant gave an exasperated sigh and continued. “Now I can see the undisguised interest on your faces, and I assure you that the new TA will change nothing - except my workload, fortunately. And if I catch anybody sneaking behind my back to change their grade, I will change it myself - to a zero.” 

Ah. So that’s what it was. Kara leaned back into her chair, interest already fading, as the door opened and the new assistant slid inside. 

“- And here he is now,” Professor Grant said, glancing rather distastefully at the TA, and then towards the clock, which indicated that the class had begun five minutes ago. “Though I am loathe to waste any more of my previous class time, please take a moment to introduce yourself to the students, Jimmy.” 

“Actually I go by James, but thank you, Professor Grant.” The man gave a blinding smile. Kara’s pen fell from her grip, clattering to the floor. She stared, jaw hanging open, as the pen rolled away from her chair. 

It was Jimmy Olsen - James Olsen. Her cousin’s best friend in Metropolis, come to National City for - what? A trip? An exciting new job as a teacher’s assistant? Somehow she didn't think so. 

James caught her eye and winked. Immediately, her shock melted into fury, and she scowled so deeply she could almost feel her vision start to heat up. Surprise crossed his face, and he glanced quickly away, back towards the professor. 

“Right, so a little about me.” He stuck his hands in his pockets, and nodded towards the rows of students sitting in front of him. “I went to school in Metropolis, where I studied Journalism and Photography - which doesn't seem like it'd get you anywhere in this economy, but I got lucky.” 

Rocking back on his heels, he gave another charming grin, which made Kara's scowl twist even deeper. She would never admit it, but she'd used to have a crush on him, back when she was in high school - though that was before he started treating her like a child, like her cousin did. 

“After school, I went to work for the Daily Planet, where I've been for the past few years,” He continued. “And then I decided it was time to go back to school for my Master’s, but I wanted a little variety, so I came to National City. My plan here is to study, and, obviously, to work.” 

He gestured towards Professor Grant, who sniffed and gave a curt nod. “Thank you for your introduction, James, though it involved far more rambling than I expected - Please try and keep it to a minimum next time. Anyway, since you’ve wasted enough of our precious time, I'll start right in with the lecture.” 

James smiled, unperturbed by the professor’s rather cutting remarks, and, as she moved next to the PowerPoint to begin her lecture, sat down without being told in front of the laptop, ready to switch the slides. Kara could have sworn an impressed look flashed in her Professor’s eyes, before it was hidden immediately by her usual disdain. 

However, it did nothing to coax her out of the dismal mood his presence had brought. Kara found herself barely listening the entire class, torn between glaring at James, who was studiously ignoring her, and glaring at her notebook, in order to studiously ignore him. 

The minutes crawled by, until finally, after what seemed like ages, Professor Grant drew her lecture to a close and dismissed the students with a wave of her hand. Kara sprung to her feet, tossing her things haphazardly into her bag before sliding into the pell-mell of students jostling towards the door. Camouflaged, she slipped out of the lecture hall before pausing, lingering by the doorway. She glanced for a moment down the hallway, thinking longingly of bolting for home, and then sighed. Leaning with her back against the wall, she waited. 

It didn't take long for James to make his way out. Kara, listened as his footsteps approached the door, and crossed her arms as it swung open, her stance stiffening with anger. 

He caught sight of her immediately, standing by the doorway, and his smile faltered. 

“Kara,” He said and closed the door behind him before stepping towards her. “Nice to see you.” 

Kara didn't uncross her arms, nor did her expression lighten. 

“What are you doing here, James?” She growled, not bothering with pleasantries. “I didn't know you wanted to go back to school.” 

“Huh? Oh, well I've actually been thinking about it for a while,” He admitted, rubbing the back of his head. “I was planning on studying back in Metropolis, but at the last moment I figured a change of scenery might be nice.” 

“Oh, really?” Kara sniffed. “And you just happened to end up at my university, working in _my_ class? How'd that happen, huh?” 

He at least had the decency to shuffle his feet guiltily. “It's not exactly what you think -” He began, but Kara cut him off. 

“You mean spying on me? _Babysitting_ me?” She spat, her temper rising. “Clark didn't care enough to come himself, even though he promised, so he had to send his friend to take care of me. Because, apparently, I can't be trusted to look out for myself!” 

“Kara,” James said firmly, catching her gaze with steady eyes. “It’s not that we look down on you - not that at all. It’s just that Clark is _worried_ from all the stories Alex keeps telling him, and even he can't keep an eye on you twenty four-seven. And to be honest, I'm worried too - because I _care_ about you, and I don't want you getting hurt. I really was planning to go back to school, and this - this seemed like a good compromise.” 

“Right,” Kara seethed. “A great compromise for _you_ guys - because nobody ever bothers to ask me! You're all so busy arguing about what's best for me, that you won't listen to what I'm saying - even though it's my life!” 

At this James crossed his arms, his face setting. 

“Listen, I understand where you're coming from.” His voice was tense, but carefully neutral. “Really, I do - I wasn't a teenager that long ago. But do you really think that running around, being a _vigilante_ , is the right answer?” 

His voice dropped to a low whisper with the world vigilante, and he glanced around as if there were somebody in the empty hallway to hear them. 

“I'm not trying to be a vigilante,” Kara said in an angry whisper, her voice dropping low to match his. “But Clark knows I want to be a superhero - he's known for years! He told me to wait until after high school, so I did. Now he won't even come to visit me, to see if I'm ready, like I asked! How can I become a superhero _if he won't even train me?_ ” 

Her last words were nearly hissed with fury, as her temper curled her hands into fists. At that moment, all the fights, all the unwinnable arguments, condescending lectures and ‘we-know-what's-best’ came crashing over her, and Kara wanted to scream. Unconsciously, she took a step forward as her nails dug into her palms, and she had to bite her tongue to keep from letting loose with another tirade. 

James stepped back, eyes wide. He'd never seen the normally happy-go-lucky teenager like this, and in that moment he felt sorry for Alex. 

He swallowed, and said: “Wait a minute, wait a minute. You know that Clark isn't opposed to your…career choice. But nineteen is really young, Kara! Even he waited until after college.” 

“I don't care what Clark did,” Kara said icily. “This is about what I'm doing with my life.” 

“I understand,” James answered carefully. “But listen - you don't have to go running around fighting crime in a hoodie. I'm not just here to watch out for you - Clark mentioned that you wanted to test your powers.” 

He paused and swallowed almost nervously, waiting to gauge her reaction. Kara didn't respond at first. She stared at him blankly, her anger dissipating into incredulity. Her cousin had listened to her? Was that the reason he had sent his best friend to National City - in order to test her? To train her? 

A tiny voice at the back of her head wondered why Clark himself hadn't come, and though she wanted to brush it away, it remained insistent. 

“You want to test me,” She said flatly, and James nodded in response. 

“Yes! I mean, it's about time we know what you're capable of, right?” He gave her a slightly forced smile and winked. The idea seemed like exactly what she wanted, and Kara so badly wanted to let the small seed of excitement in her stomach grow, but something held her back. 

“And then...I’ll be able to start training? Make my own name and everything?” She asked, and immediately saw something close off in James’ eyes. 

“Not exactly…” He began, his voice hesitant, and in an instant Kara felt her quashed frustration rise up again - only this time it was coupled with a burning disappointment. 

“Why not?” She snapped, but despite her best attempts, couldn't summon her earlier venom - it had been replaced by the sticky lump of disappointment in her throat, and Kara had the miserable feeling that she wanted to cry. 

“Well, I mean, we’ll get to that part eventually,” He said, choosing each word so carefully that Kara had the immediate feeling that he was lying. “But first of all, we need to see what your capabilities are, and that could take a while.” 

“A while as in a few months or a while as in after I graduate college?” She demanded, her tone sparking with frustration. James didn't answer, but just shrugged uncomfortably. She watched the movement blankly and suddenly, it struck her that the man truly had no idea. 

James wasn't the one deciding just when she would be be ready, or if at all; he was just following Kal El’s directions. He most definitely agreed with her cousin, but it wasn't as if he’d decided on his own to come to National City; rather, it was out of respect and friendship for her cousin. Kara had the suspicion that if Clark told James to start her training the next day, he would do so with little complaint. 

James wasn't the problem. He also wasn't going to help her, she realized. He respected Superman far too much to go against him. It was all a trap. If she did as James offered, she would just be playing into the hands of her overprotective cousin. 

And anyway, she had a better offer. 

James was still looking at her, the awkward moment stretching as he waited for her response. She stared back at him, stiffly meeting his gaze, and swallowed her disappointment. She didn't need her cousin to become a hero. 

“If Clark isn't serious about training me, then I don't want to test my powers.” Her voice rung with bitterness, but held steady. 

“Are you sure?” James asked, his head jerking back in surprise, though there was a hint of relief in his expression . “I mean, that's what you wanted, isn't it?” 

“I don't know what I want, apparently” Her voice was testy. “And since Clark seems to be the expert, I'll just let him decide. How does that sound?” 

“It…” He trailed off, unsure of how to respond. “Wait, but this means no more crime fighting! You know that, right? We can test your powers, if you want, but no more going out on the streets.” 

He looked unsure as to whether she would agree, but Kara just nodded coldly and said: “I promised Alex, anyway.” 

“Oh, good.” His relief was palpable. “Well then, if you wan -” 

“Sorry, I have to get home,” Not bother to let him finish, she moved, brushing past him with just the right amount of strength, before he could finish his sentence. He spun around as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came. Instead James just watched as she stalked away, and wondered inwardly just how successful that conversation had been. 

Probably not as much as he thought. James sighed inwardly, and turned to leave. 

Kara walked briskly, waiting until she was absolutely sure that the man was out of earshot, before dialing Winn. He answered almost immediately. Kara felt his excitement radiating through the phone. 

“Kara? Did you decide about the….thing?” He trailed off, eagerness coloring his voice. 

“Yeah, I did, Winn. You're right. I wanna do this. Let's do it.” The second she said the words it felt as if a weight on her chest had fallen away, leaving a lightness that was quickly blooming into a quivering excitement. 

“Oh my god, really?” He asked, enthusiasm spilling over his words. Kara could almost see him punching the air in victory. “Yes, Kara, yes! I knew you would! Have I told you just how amazing of a friend you are! Oh my god I can't wait to start on the costume!” 

He kept rambling and Kara listened, pink cheeked with infectious enthusiasm as he jumped from suits to names to possible training techniques. She wondered briefly and rather wistfully why her cousin couldn't seem to gather up as much excitement as her friend over her goal, but chased the negative thought away immediately. It would do no good to focus on things like that. 

Now, she had something else to focus on. 

*** 

If Alex hadn't left her phone at home, she would have completely missed the police officer. 

As it was, she had already signed in at work by the time she'd realized it was gone, making it impossible to slip out until lunch time. Groaning, she ran through the possibilities in her mind, and reluctantly came to the conclusion that she wouldn't be able to run out before lunch without drawing undue suspicion. So she gritted her teeth and decided to put her mind off of it, resolving simply to pop back to the apartment at lunchtime. On principal, she hated being without her phone - because she hated not being able to contact Kara. A part of her knew that her sister was practically invincible, and, despite her rashness, had a good head on her shoulders, but she could never successfully quell the gnawing worry in the back of her head. It was too deeply ingrained in her, from years of looking after the younger girl - watching over her, teaching her, and protecting her identity, at all costs. 

Honestly, Alex had never really wanted to be a sister, nor had she particularly wanted to be the primary guardian of an adolescent alien - but after her parents’ sudden passing, she hadn't really had a choice. Kara had been dependent on her, and though Clark had helped with money and living quarters, he was too tied to his jobs in Metropolis to take on a younger relative - and by that point, Alex hadn't wanted to give her sister up. 

But that didn't stop her from worrying incessantly - especially when Kara did stupid, reckless things like running around fighting criminals in the dead of night. She knew Kara didn't often give much thought to her own well-being - and why would she? She didn't know what it was like to feel physical pain; or if she did, she'd forgotten. A large part of Alex hoped she'd never be reminded. So the minute her lunch break swung around, Alex checked out and jumped into her car, speeding home as safely as she could manage. She arrived just barely after twelve, and rushed up to the apartment, so busy searching for the keys in her purse that she almost didn't see the police officer. 

But she did and she stopped, several meters away from her own door, where the woman was poised to knock. Alex's eyes narrowed as she looked over the woman, who lowered her hand and turned at the sound of Alex's footsteps. She was dressed in civilian clothes, but there was something about the clothes she wore - slacks and a button down - and the way she held herself that immediately made Alex's mind jump to police. The woman met her gaze and smiled, stepping towards her. 

“I take it you live here?” She asked, brown eyes sparkling. She smiled politely, all business, and offered her hand. 

“I do,” Alex answered curtly. She took the hand, more to avoid suspicion than out of any sense of politeness, and felt the woman’s firm grasp, warm in hers. It was a strong handshake, and neither of them broke eye contact. 

“Maggie Sawyer, National City Police Department,” The woman answered cheerfully. “I'm a detective on the force.” 

“Nice to know,” Alex responded, breaking off the handshake. “Now, do you mind telling me what you're doing at my apartment?” 

The woman - Maggie - gave another smile, but it was tighter, and not quite so friendly. 

“We were hoping to ask the residents here a few questions,” She said, and pulled out a piece of paper. “This may sound a bit crazy, but my partner and I are looking for someone who's taken it on themselves to fight crime in the streets of National City. We've compiled a list of suspects recently, and we're going through them one by one.” 

“Where's your partner now?” Alex asked, her face carefully neutral as she glanced at the piece of paper in the woman's hand. The gnawing worry at the back of her head was growing louder and more insistent, and she prayed that the panic starting to bubble in her stomach wasn’t showing on her face. God, what had Kara done this time? 

“He's checking other areas,” Maggie said dismissively, and, as she saw Alex’s eyes tracking towards the paper, began to unfold it. “So, may I ask you a few questions, Ms….?” 

“Danvers,” She answered. “Alex Danvers. This is my apartment.” 

“Right.” Maggie nodded, finished unfolding the paper, and held it up for her. “So, are you related in some way to a Ms. Kara Danvers?” 

Alex looked at the paper and her heart sank. On it was a blown up picture of Kara’s student ID, with all the pertinent information. She was immediately tempted to snatch the page from the detective’s hand and make a run for it, but her logic overruled the impulse. 

Instead she raised one eyebrow, her expression inquisitive. “Yeah, Kara is my younger sister. Where'd you get her student ID? Or should I ask, why do you have it?” 

Maggie lowered the page, folding it up before stuffing it back into her coat pocket. “Listen, ma’am -” 

“It's Alex.” 

“Right, Alex. Listen, we aren't accusing your sister of anything. She's not in trouble. She just happens to fall on a specific list of people who match our suspect’s description, so we thought we'd give you guys a ring, you know, ask a few questions. Maybe take a look around, if that's alright with you.” 

Alex swallowed. “What kind of list do you mean?” 

Maggie shrugged. “I'm sure you've seen the description in the paper. Tallish, blonde girl, runs around in a Superman hoodie and a grey ski mask. Oh, and sunglasses.” 

Alex stifled a groan. _Kara!_ Alex didn't know what kind of costume her sister had fixed up for her reckless stunts, but if she'd had to take a guess, Maggie’s description wouldn't have been far from it. She racked her brain, trying to think of a way - any way - to get out of the situation without arousing suspicion, but nothing came to her. Worse, she had to go into the apartment to get her phone, anyway, and she had no doubt that the detective was not ready to leave just yet. 

“Alright,” She sighed, shoulders sinking in defeat. Maggie gave her a smile, her face lighting up with such open honesty that Alex almost returned it. “I'll answer a few questions, but I have to grab my phone.” 

“To record?” Maggie asked, though she didn't seem bothered by the implication. “That's alright, ma - Alex, we aim to be as transparent as possible in our investigations.” 

“No,” Alex answered, and then corrected herself. “Actually yes, I think I will do that, but I need to get into my apartment first. So could you - ?” 

She trailed off, gesturing towards where Maggie was standing, blocking the door. 

“Oh, right!” She skipped to the side, watching as Alex unlocked the door and stepped inside. Before Alex could tactfully shut the door in the detective's face, Maggie leaned casually against the doorframe. 

“Mind if I come in?” She called towards Alex. 

“Oh you know, normally I would,” Alex answered back as she cast around for her phone, before catching sight of it on the counter. “But the place is a huge mess and I just really need to grab my phone, so -” 

She snatched her phone off the counter and whirled around back towards the door before Maggie could make it any farther inside. The detective stepped back as Alex slid into the hallway, but not before she saw the woman’s eyes catch on the broken coffee table, her gaze sliding down towards the broken leg. Her eyes widened as she took in the splintered mess. 

“What happened to your coffee table?” She asked as Alex slammed the door shut behind her, phone clutched safely in her hand. 

“What, that?” Alex laughed, but even to her own ears it sounded too high, nervous. “Um, I did that. I tripped, and kicked it on my way down. It's really old, you know, and I guess the wood isn't as strong as it used to be.” 

“Huh,” Maggie said, though her gaze lingered on the apartment door, before she tore her eyes back towards the taller woman. “So you said you were Kara Danvers’ sister, right? Not gonna lie, I don't really see it.” 

“Adopted sister,” Alex answered, and her voice turned immediately wary. “Her parents died when she was thirteen, and we adopted her. A few years after that, my parents passed away and so it’s just been me and her ever since.” 

“Oh, I'm sorry to hear that,” Maggie said sincerely, and began scribbling in a notebook she had produced from her coat pocket. “How did they die?” 

“A mugging,” Alex’s voice was stiff, as she crossed her arms. She didn't like talking about her parents’ deaths, especially because the words still stuck in her throat, even years later. 

“I see,” She said, scribbling as she listened. “And if you don't mind me asking, would you say Kara might have been especially affected, seeing as she had already experienced losing her parents?” 

Alex cast her a suspicious glance. “You mean enough to turn to vigilantism?” 

Maggie paused in her scribbling, glanced up at her, and then chuckled. 

“You catch on pretty fast.” 

“I'm in the FBI,” Alex answered, “So you could say I'm familiar with the procedures.” 

Maggie's eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really? And here I was thinking I'm the cool one here.” 

Despite herself, Alex cracked a small smile. “I guess I just don't feel like I need to throw it around, _detective_.” 

Maggie stared for a moment, surprised, and then grinned. “Touché. But you can just call me Maggie, if you want. Maggie Sawyer.” 

“Fine by me, Maggie,” Alex answered. The woman beamed in response, and suddenly Alex found herself noticing just how pretty her smile was. She shook the thought from her head immediately, irritated at the distraction. 

“Anyway,” She plowed on, before detective could respond. “To answer your question, I highly doubt it. Kara's not that type of person. She's one of those super-bubbly, pets-stray-cats and studies journalism kind of people. I won't say that life has been easy for either of us, but crime fighting is just not her.” 

“Okay,” Maggie murmured, back to her scribbling. “And does she have any sort of background in martial arts or some kind of personal combat?” 

Alex laughed, and this time it wasn't at all forced. “Kara? I remember one time she accidentally killed a fly, and she cried. And no, she doesn't have any combat training.” 

“Alright,” Maggie laughed as well, and crossed something out. “So I want to go back to what you mentioned earlier, about her parents - her birth parents.” 

Alex stiffened immediately. “What about them?” 

Maggie looked up at her, scrutinizing, and tapped her pen to her lip. Alex unconsciously followed the movement, her eyes tracking over her lips before sliding back to meet her gaze. 

“Do you know where they came from?” She asked at last. 

“Came from?” Alex asked. “They were from our city - Midvale. They died and we sort of knew the family, and so we took Kara in. They were nice people, though honestly I never really talked to them that much.” 

“Hmm...okay.” Maggie write another quick line in her notebook, and Alex let out a small breath of relief. Luckily her parents had fixed all of Kara's documents upon her arrival, creating from thin air a couple that had died tragically in a home fire, leaving behind their only daughter. If Maggie checked, she would find everything to be in order. 

“And here's my last question.” She said, and looked up at Alex, steadily meeting her gaze. “Now, this may sound a little strange, but I want you to bear with me.” 

Alex nodded, and she continued. “Have you ever had any sort of suspicion -” Again Maggie's eyes drifted towards the apartment door, as if she were looking through the wood towards the broken table. “- Anything at all that made you think Kara might not be of this world? Or that she might have...powers?” 

Internally, Alex loosed a string of curses. Externally, she kept her face blank, except for a slight frown of confusion. “Powers? You mean like...Superman?” 

Maggie winced at the name, and Alex felt a wave of relief wash over her. _She doesn’t even buy into her own theory._

“Yes, something like that,” The detective sighed, a note of embarrassment in her tone, and Alex felt victory close in. So she laughed, as convincingly as she could, and said, “That's...wow. You think my sister is like...Superman?” 

She trailed off, chuckling, and noted with some satisfaction the slight coloring in Maggie's cheeks, as she took in her reaction. 

“It's only a theory,” Maggie said politely, but even Alex felt the disbelief in her voice. 

“Then I can tell you definitely that Kara does not have superpowers,” She answered firmly, and Maggie gave an approving nod. 

“That’s good to hear,” She answered, snapping her notebook shut and tucking it back into her pocket. “Alright, Ms. Danvers -” 

“Alex.” 

“- Alex,” Maggie corrected herself. “I won't take up any more of your time, as I’m sure you have things to do.” 

She dug into her wallet, producing a card, and handed it to Alex. “That's my card, with my contact info, so if you happen to see anything suspicious, feel free to contact me.” 

Alex nodded, taking the card and balling it into her fist. “Have a nice day, detective.” 

“It's Maggie,” She corrected. “And you too, Alex.” 

She winked, and before Alex could respond, the detective had turned around and started towards the elevator. Alex stared after her in shock, before unballing her fist and glancing down at the crumpled card in her hand. 

That was certainly something new. 

*** 

Maggie wanted to take Kara Danvers off the list, if only because her sister was cute. 

It might have been a mistake, giving Alex her number. It wasn't something she usually did, but well, she had a card for a reason. So she desperately wanted to remove the Danvers sisters from the potential list of suspects, but couldn't quite bring herself to do. 

If she was being honest with herself, there had been something off in their story. The older sister seemed to be telling the truth, but the story itself...maybe Maggie was putting herself too much in the younger sister’s shoes, but she couldn't imagine losing two sets of parents, and not wanting to take that out on anyone. 

That wasn't the only thing, of course. The table she'd glimpsed, just before Alex had slammed the door, did not look old and worn down. Rather it looked sturdy, though cheaply made, and in fact not unlike the very coffee table Maggie herself owned. 

Which was why that evening she stood indecisively in her living room, sizing up her coffee table rather apprehensively. It really was quite similar to the one she'd glimpsed in the Danvers’ apartment. Hers wasn't old, but then again, theirs didn't look it either. 

She took a deep breath, bouncing a little on the soles of her feet. As she readied herself, the thought crossed her mind that, if she was wrong, she'd be out a perfectly serviceable coffee table. Not to mention that Sethers, if he got wind of it, would never let her hear the end of it. 

But if she was wrong… 

Maggie kicked out, smashing her boot into the leg of the coffee table with a resounding _thud!_ It bounced off, leaving nothing more than a scratch, and immediately a sharp pain lanced up her foot. 

“Son of a bitch!” She growled, hopping up and down on one foot. Her foot throbbed and she groaned, leaning into the unavoidable feeling of idiocy that came with kicking a coffee table on a hunch. 

It didn't last long though. As the throbbing faded, Maggie gingerly placed her foot back on the floor and cursed - this time not at the coffee table, but because she'd been right. The Danvers’ story had holes in it, maybe not enough for Swiss cheese, but enough to warrant a closer look. 

It was a shame though - and she couldn't help but feel rather bitter about it. Not that she didn't want to solve the case, but because it was such a damn complicated one - and, if her hunch was right and the Danvers kid was the perp, a damn sad one too. 

And okay, maybe she was a little disappointed about the tanked dating prospect.


	8. The meeting at CADMUS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I keep expecting the chapters to be short, but somehow they keep ending up longer and longer. Anyway, here the plot finally starts to thicken!
> 
> Oh, and thank you so much for the wonderful comments! It really motivates me to keep going when I see that people are still reading :)

They met up that evening in Kara’s bedroom, almost immediately after she had called to agree to his idea. They were both too excited to wait until the next day to discuss the plan - but as they finally sat down in her room, the hours sliding by, Kara found herself focusing on anything besides the matter at hand.

“You know, you don’t really need that anymore,” Winn said, from where he sat backwards in Kara’s desk chair, one hand cupping his chin as he slumped over the back of the seat. “I’ve already started working on your new costume.”

Kara looked up and shot him a disbelieving glance from where she sat sprawled on her bed, her ruined sweatshirt spread out on her knees. Clumsy fingers threaded a needle through the blue fabric, closing up singed holes one at a time. It was slow, tedious work, but it kept Kara’s hands moving, and her brain from thinking too hard about what Alex would say if she knew of her decision.

“I’m not fixing it to wear,” She retorted, carefully pulling the thread tight. “It has sentimental value, and I’m not just gonna throw it out. Besides, I’m not wearing any costume you design until I get to see and approve the final form.”

Winn rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I think you’ve mentioned that at least twenty times. I get it, Kara! You don’t want a mini skirt. I won’t give you one. Besides, you’re not going to be wearing it anytime soon.”

Kara squinted at the thread in her hand, carefully drawing the hole shut before knotting the thread with fumbling fingers. The result was a crooked, rather amateurish stitch. She tugged at it experimentally, and, satisfied, moved to the next hole before responding.

“So, the training thing,” She peered up at Winn from where she was looking down at the sweatshirt. “We should really discuss that.”

“Right,” Winn was staring, engrossed, at her crooked stitches. “Yeah, I’m definitely not letting you sew your own suit.”

“Winn, focus!”

“Right, right,” His eyes slid back up to meet hers. “How does this weekend sound?”

“Uh…” Kara blinked with surprise, her glasses sliding down her nose. She pushed them back up and said, “You already have stuff ready for me?”

He shrugged. “I mean, first we’ve gotta do some testing right? I don’t need to prepare much for that - all I had to do was write up a program so I’d have somewhere to input your stats and find a place that was pretty private.”

“And you have a place?” She asked, impressed. It had only been a few hours since she’d called him, agreeing to the idea, and she hadn’t expected that her friend would be already have a plan - though now that she was thinking of it, she probably should have. She had a sneaking suspicion that Winn had been thinking about this longer than he let on.

He grinned at her. “You know the abandoned train tracks?”

“The train tracks?” Kara asked, eyebrows raised. “Isn’t that...a little cliche?”

Winn groaned. “Really, Kara? You’re trying to be a superhero and you’re complaining about cliches?”

“No, no!” She raised her hands in defense. “Not complaining. I’m just wondering if _maybe_ you got the idea because my cousin trained on abandoned train tracks.”

“No!” Winn denied immediately, and then he sighed. “I mean, maybe. But it makes sense! Nobody ever goes there, not even teenagers, and it has the perfect tools for you! You can lift a train, right?”

“I don’t know,” Kara said thoughtfully, as she pondered Winn’s suggestion. “I’ve never actually tried before.”

“There you go!” Winn leaned back against her desk, arms crossed triumphantly. “I bet if Superman can lift a train, you can too. Anyway, that’s the only place I could find that has junk big enough for you to lift, and that wouldn’t have people hanging around. Besides, what does it matter if he did the same thing?”

Kara dipped her head in agreement, turning her attention halfway back to the hole she was sewing shut. As much as she was feeling contrary towards her cousin at the moment, she had to admit that Winn was right. If she was being honest, it didn’t really matter that she train the way Superman did - except that it bothered her. 

Because sure, Kara was proud of her cousin, and the way he’d chosen to honor their family and heritage, by turning the family crest into a beacon of hope - except that it had been _her_ symbol first. She had worn it on Krypton, and she had every right to wear it now, with all its new meaning...but it nagged at her that her cousin had done it all first, and seemingly defined the way to be a superhero along the way.

She didn’t want to just copycat everything he did. Everybody doubted her enough as it was, and anyway, she vaguely suspected that her cousin assumed the only reason she wanted to be a superhero was because she wanted to be just like him.

Except she _didn’t_.

Kara yanked the needle just a little too hard, snapping the thin thread in two. She cursed, and reached for the spool on her nightside stand.

“I guess you’re right,” She admitted, measuring out a new length of string. Winn watched as she tied the new thread with wide eyes. “It doesn’t really matter. I just...don’t want to copy every little thing he does, you know? I want to be my own hero.”

Winn nodded in agreement at her words. “I get you, Kara. But you will be! The training is irrelevant. It’s just a way to get you ready for the job. When you really get out on the streets and go public, nobody’s going to think you’re a copycat. I promise.”

He then shifted, rather uncomfortably. “But to be honest, for the suit design I’m working on, I did use his symbol…you know, the ‘S’, for super...”

“No, no,” Kara reassured him. “That’s fine! It’s not actually an ‘S’, you know - it’s our family crest. And it’s more mine than his anyway, because I came first.”

“Huh?” Winn looked at her, his face a mess of confusion. “Isn’t he like way older than you?”

“It’s a long story,” Kara answered, eyes still glued to her sewing project. “Don’t ask.”

“Yeah, okay,” Winn eyed her rather strangely, but dropped the subject. “So, Saturday?”

“Huh? Oh - yeah!” She jerked her head back up to look at him, her lips twitching into a nervous smile. “Saturday morning. We’ll meet at the train tracks. It’ll be…”

“Amazing?” Winn finished for her. “Groundbreaking?”

“Uh, I was gonna say interesting,” She replied, hand fluttering up to nervously adjust her glasses. “I mean, don’t get me wrong! I’m excited, but it’s a little...scary, I guess. I mean, do you really think this is the right way to go about it?”

At Winn’s expression, she felt rather silly asking such a question. After all, she knew it was the right thing to do - if she wanted to be a superhero, she would have to train. However, the guilt that came with disobeying her sister and cousin - the only family she had left - lapped at the edge of her thoughts, making her doubt again and again whether she was making the right choice.

At first,the self-righteous fury she’d felt after her fight with James had done its job to extinguish the flickers of doubt in her thoughts - but only for a while. It had been several hours since they’d argued, and now, as Kara sat in her room, slowly calming down as she focused on stitching up her old hoodie, she felt her angry determination fade away. It had been replaced by tendrils of doubt and uncertainty, which were not helped by the undercurrent of guilt running through her at the thought of Alex’s - and now James’ - disappointed faces.

“Well - yeah,” Winn said, brow wrinkling in confusion. “Why wouldn’t it be? You’re not just going out and beating people up on the streets - no offense,” He added quickly, catching sight of Kara’s slightly chafed expression. “What I mean is, we’re gonna be super professional about it. Besides, this is a good thing! Everybody knows this city has too much crime for the police to deal with, and there’s even rumors that some of the crime is alien-related. Who could be more capable of facing down aliens than Superman’s cousin?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Kara chewed her lip thoughtfully. “It’s just...I don’t want to be a failure, you know? Everybody loves Superman. It’s like, I have pretty big shoes to fill, I guess.”

“You don’t have to fill anybody’s shoes,” Winn assured her. “And if anybody’s gonna compare you to Superman, it’s gonna be about how much better you are.”

Kara laughed at that, as a grin spread slowly across her face, chasing away part of her anxiety. Winn could be overly-enthusiastic at times, but he made good - sometimes frustratingly good - points. Of course, he was right about the crime rates - and Kara had read herself about the uptake in alien criminals. Who else would be more equipped to take down alien crime than an alien herself?

“I hope you’re right,” She answered, smiling.

“I know so,” Winn grinned, and tossed her a dorky finger gun sign, which made her laugh even harder. “They’ll all be like - Superman, who?”

She snickered again at his lame attempts to cheer her up, and then stopped, cocking her head to one side. Her laughter died in her throat as she listened. Winn stared at her, inquisitive.

“What is it…?” He asked, trailing into an unnecessary whisper.

She didn’t answer, just held a finger up as she took in the telltale sound of the elevator door sliding open, and the subsequent familiar footsteps of her sister padding down the hall. 

“Alex is here!” Kara jerked up from her bed, just as the front door clicked open, this time loud enough for Winn to hear as well. 

“Is that...a problem?” He asked, as Kara scooped up the sewing supplies and tossed them into an open drawer, along with her mostly-stitched-up sweatshirt.

“No,” She hissed, slamming the drawer shut. “It’s just that she can’t know that you know about me!”

She leaped back onto the bed just as Alex’s footsteps sounded in their tiny hallway, sprawling out in an exaggeratedly casual pose.

“Act casual, okay?” She whispered to Winn, who was staring at her, bemused.

“I...am…?” He answered in confusion, trailing off at the sound of Alex’s knock - three hard, angry raps.

“Kara?” Her voice came faintly through the closed door, and the two winced together at the sharpness of her tone. “Are you in there?”

“Uh...yeah?” Kara called out, casting a nervous glance towards her friend. “Winn is here too.”

The door swung open immediately, and as Kara took in the image of her sister standing in the doorway, hands on her hips, she knew immediately that she’d done something wrong - though she couldn’t imagine what, unless James had called Alex.

Oh no. Had James called Alex?

Alex glanced between the two teenagers, a frown forming on her face as she took in Winn’s bemused expression, and the tensely casual way Kara lay on the bed.

“What’re you guys doing?” She asked, the suspicion obvious in her tone.

“Homework,” Winn answered, just as Kara said, “Schoolwork.” They glanced at each other, and then Winn cleared his throat and said, “We were...studying. Without books, because, um, we were quizzing each other, so obviously we can’t look at the material.”

“Uh huh,” Alex said, eyebrows still raised as she examined them with a look of disbelief. “So, I’m sorry about this Winn, but I actually wanted to talk to Kara about something. Something private.”

The look on her face indicated that he should leave, and immediately. Winn swung his head between her and Kara, whose expression had taken on a dark look at her sister’s words. He sprung to his feet, hoisting up the backpack that lay crumpled on the floor.

“Right!” He said, slinging the bag over his shoulder, and moved towards the door. “Private conversations. I’ll just get out of your hair, then. Um, bye Kara, see you Saturday.”

He gave a small wave before brushing past Alex, who moved to let him aside. Kara returned the wave unenthusiastically, watching as he disappeared out the doorway. She cocked her head to listen as his footsteps faded down the hallway, until she heard the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut.

Alex, who had been listening as well, relaxed the second she heard the door click shut. Then she turned her gaze fully to Kara, who gave her sister a rather sullen look in return.

“What did I do now?” She asked, her tone defensive. “I’ve just been at school and home, I swear! And I didn’t even fly there today, I took the bus.”

Alex just sighed and stepped fully into the room, dropping into the chair Winn had vacated. “The fact that you immediately assume you did something wrong worries me.”

“So...I didn’t?” Kara asked hopefully, untensing just a bit. “I mean...of course I didn’t! I don’t even know what you’re talking about - which, uh, is true.”

She adjusted her glasses nervously, peeking at her sister, who had closed her eyes and was pinching her nose in exhaustion.

“It’s not anything you did today,” She replied at last, and then added warningly, “At least, not that I know about.”

She opened her eyes and leaned forward in her chair to look at her sister, who simply stared back at her with confusion etched onto her face.

“I got a visit from the cops today.” She waited for Kara’s reaction, which was immediate. The confusion turned to shock, which shifted into shame, as she dropped her gaze to the bedsheets.

“Oh,” She mumbled, gaze cast downward. Worry filled her tone. “Did they come to you at work? Did you...get into trouble?”

Alex rolled her eyes, though her expression softened. “No, dummy. I’m not in trouble. It was bad luck - I happened to come back because I left my phone, and I caught the officer at the door. She asked me a few questions - about you. Or rather, about a certain vigilante.”

Kara’s gaze shot up to meet her sister’s, panic glinting in her eyes. “They know it’s me?”

“God, I hope not,” Alex said, and let out an exasperated breath. “I tried to put her off the trail as much as I could - I just hope it’s enough. I’m not sure she was convinced, though. She gave me her number and told me to call if I caught sight of you.”

“That’s weird,” Kara frowned. “Why would she give you her number? They have the official contact information in the newspaper.”

A slight tint rose in Alex’s cheeks. “Why do you think…? Never mind, that’s not the important part. The important part is today I had to fend off a _police officer_ , because they think you’re running around fighting crime!”

“But I’m not!” Kara protested, and then, as Alex threw her a look of disbelief, amended her statement. “I mean, I’m not anymore. I stopped, Alex, I promise! I know they’re looking, but if nothing happens, it’ll die down, right? They’ll have to lose interest eventually.”

“I really hope so,” Alex responded with a grimace. “I can’t say I’ve got high hopes, though. This detective - she was a sharp one. And I get the feeling she’s not gonna give up easily.”

Kara shifted uneasily, her gaze dropping back to the bedsheets. She began to pick distractedly at a loose thread. “I’m sure she won’t find anything. Like I said, I stopped going out.”

 _At least until I’m ready_ , the thought floated to the surface, but she pushed it away. She couldn’t let Alex suspect that her crime fighting hiatus wasn’t permanent; when she came out, she’d have to do it fully and professionally - name, suit, and everything, if she wanted to win over the police department, as well as her sister and cousin. There could be no room for mistakes.

Alex eyed her sister carefully, searching for any flicker of dishonesty. Apparently, she found none.

“I believe you,” She said at last, and Kara felt the tension in her stomach uncoil - though it was followed by a small stab of guilt, which she quickly squashed. “Either way, try and be on your best behavior for the next few days okay? Maybe even few weeks. Just - don’t do anything to attract attention.”

Kara nodded rotely, barely taking in the words in. It was a reiteration of the same speech she’d heard Alex deliver multiple times over the years, repeated so often that Kara was fairly certain she could recite the whole thing by memory.

“Got it, keep the powers on the down low,” She said, and this time didn’t bother to hide the hint of sarcasm in her voice. “Any other advice, captain?”

Alex closed her eyes and leaned back in the seat, exasperation sinking into her face. “Funny how my dear sister knows I hate sarcasm and yet continues to use it.”

Kara shrugged and bounced up into a sitting position, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. “You’ve effectively hobbled me for the next few days. Sarcasm is my only tool left.”

“Yeah, that and your very unfair metabolism,” Alex grumbled, hoisting herself to her feet. At that Kara wrinkled her nose and rubbed her stomach, as if suddenly aware of how long time had passed since she’d last eaten.

“Well, now that we’re speaking of food...” She said sheepishly.

“Spare me,” Alex rolled her eyes. “I already ordered on the way home. It should be here any minute.”

Kara grinned and sprung to her feet, the mention of food temporarily chasing away her worries. “Have I mentioned that you’re definitely the best big sister ever?”

“For the amount of crap you put me through? Not enough.”

***

By the time the driver pulled up, a block away from the entrance to the underground facility, Lillian had already solved the problem of her daughter’s secret student partner. It had taken her less than a day to decide on the course of action, and only twenty five minutes of the thirty minute drive to the CADMUS facility to put it into action.

Discovering the identity of her daughter’s secret friend had been even easier than Lillian had anticipated. Truly though, she only had her own foresight to thank; years earlier, she had installed a small, nearly undetectable function on her daughter’s phone - one that monitored all of Lena’s incoming and outgoing texts. Of course, her daughter had jailbroken the phone the minute she’d gotten it, but Lillian had several decades of extensive technical experience backing her up, and it had been no hard task to design the program so as not to be detected by Lena’s tampering.

She had kept the function off, as an act of faith in her daughter - and in her boarding school, which Lillian had thoroughly vetted, enough to feel safe in the idea that Lena was not getting up to any untoward business.

College, however - that was another matter.

Lillian had often found herself tempted to turn the function off, out of pure curiosity if nothing else; however, she refrained for lack of evidence of wrongdoing. The function, turned off, was absolutely undetectable. Turned on, it would supposedly remain the same, but her daughter was clever, and there was no telling how quickly she would catch on to the fact that she was being monitored. Lillian didn’t want to take that chance. Therefore, as long as all of Lena’s friends remained vetted and approved by her, Lillian allowed the girl some right to privacy.

However, now there was a friend - if not more than one - of whom Lillian had no idea as to their intentions, never mind their prospects and standing in society. It was the first time that she found herself in the dark about something in Lena’s life, and that made her uneasy. Therefore, the day after their little spat, Lillian found herself activating the function with little trepidation.

She was rewarded immediately with her answer. The girl’s name was Kara Danvers, and a quick search on social media revealed a rather bottom-barrel student of less than average grades, living in a tiny apartment with her sister, who, curiously enough, worked for the FBI. Lillian felt a sneer of disapproval curl her lip as she pieced together the identity of her daughter’s new friend. An entirely inappropriate acquaintance, if fairly harmless in appearance. Still, it would be in due diligence to keep an eye on their meetings - though that would prove slightly problematic, since Lillian had yet to establish a strong network of informants at the university. She had never had a reason to before now.

However, that was a matter to be temporarily tabled. It was enough that she had worked out the identity of the girl - she would figure out how to deal with her later. For now, there was the matter of CADMUS’s next move to consider. The seeds of alien attacks planted by her organization had successfully given rise to a nice wave of anti-alien hysteria, which was currently riding its crest toward a confused and slightly panicked city government. They were just about standing on the edge of complete desperation - and CADMUS was about to push them over.

She strode into the facility at half-past five, making a beeline straight towards the meeting room tucked away in the corner. It was nicer than the rest of the grey, drafty facility - the walls were an off-white, the oval table was a burnished oak, and the whole room had a mid-level office feel that was absent from the rest of the place. There was even an old white coffee machine sitting on a counter that had been installed awkwardly against the back wall of the room.

Her top employees were already there when she entered - a smattered group of a half dozen scientists, none overly well-dressed, and most wearing stained lab coats. Several sat at the table, flipping restlessly through papers, while a couple milled around at the back of the room, pouring coffee.

As soon as Lillian entered the room, the atmosphere changed. The nervous energy died down instantly, the employees at the table straightening in their seats as they settled their papers and coughed, while those at the back moved quickly to the table.

Lillian remained standing, and looked around at the faces before her. Most were people she’d worked with for decades in the company, and all had been at CADMUS since its start. The scientists staring back at her had been the fledgling strength of the organization, back when it had numbered only a handful of people, and now they were the top overseers of all its projects. Lillian trusted them all, more or less intimately.

She cleared her throat, gave a welcoming smile, and spoke. “Shall we get this started?”

There was a murmur of agreement as well as a bobbing of heads throughout the group, and several gestured towards the man sitting at her right-hand side. He glanced around, and then rose, shuffling papers into his hands. 

“Lowenstein,” Lillian nodded toward him in greeting, and gestured for him to start. “Go ahead.”

“Right,” The man cleared his throat, and ducked his head, curly red hair bouncing across his forehead. His watery blue eyes darted quickly around the room, then back to Lillian, before he continued. “So I know you requested a progress update on our latest selling numbers in regards to the alien weaponry to crime syndicates -”

“- As well as the status of our defensive weaponry developments,” She reminded him.

“Yes, of course,” He answered quickly. “Our defensive arsenal is very well-stocked, I have to say - especially in regards to Superman. In fact, I would dare say we have the most sophisticated understanding of his species and how to fight him of anybody on this planet.”

“Impressive,” Lillian acknowledged, with a tilt of her head. “And the weapons sales?”

“Okay, yes,” Lowenstein responded, his eyes flickering towards hers, and back down again at the papers in his hands. He seemed as if he had something rather exciting he wanted to say, but couldn’t quite get the words unstuck in his throat. “The weapons sales are good - not exactly a huge uptake, but steady. And our underground connections are really working their magic - we’ve got alien crime up at a good rate, and the anti-alien sentiment is following. I would say that, if we continued at this pace, we would have mass hysteria in about a year or so - maybe more.”

Lillian frowned. “And you’re aware that this timeline is problematic?”

“Of course,” Lowenstein said, a hint of affront in his voice. “If we have to wait a year, we’ll have to sit through elections, and there’s a good chance that the next guy in office won’t be taking the hardline that this guy is.”

He handed her a stapled packet of pages, which Lillian accepted, and began to scan through. “And what is this?”

“This is our solution.” He smiled, his pale blue eyes turning almost colorless under the fluorescent lights. There was a shuffling at the table, as the other employees murmured their agreement. “Together, we’ve worked to put together some big projects - a tad riskier than our usual arms deals, but enough to cut the timeline in half, if not more. These projects could put us in the mayor’s office within the next few months.”

Lillian flipped through the pages, frowning. “Lowenstein, if I’m not mistaken, these look like terrorist attacks.”

“Alien terrorist attacks,” He corrected her, his expression turning smug with confidence. “Rather than just putting our weaponry in the hands of aliens and criminals and letting them go wild, these ideas involve a little more planning and involvement on our part - but they’ll also raise public panic tenfold. There is _nothing_ scarier to this country than a terrorist attack - can you imagine the effect an alien terrorist attack would have?”

Lillian hummed thoughtfully as she read through the proposals in her hand. “These could be a good deal more dangerous than our current level of activity, though. If we go through with one of these attacks, and it gets linked back to the organization, that’s it - it’ll be over for us.”

There was a grumble near the end of the table, nearly inaudible. “That’s not what you said when you let Lex in.”

Lillian’s head shot up in an instant, her eyes glinting dangerously. “Hemson, did you have something you wanted to add?”

The man looked up from where he was nursing his mug of coffee, and gave her a sullen look. Shocks of dark hair hung over his eyes, which widened instantly as he took in her threatening expression.

“Nothing,” He said quickly, and then added. “I just meant to say...isn’t calculated risk a good thing? I understand the need to take it slow, but we’ve been working on this project for years. If we have to wait another year, and the political climate changes, we could be sitting on our hands for another half-decade. Besides, I believe we could take the necessary precautions.”

Lillian regarded him coldly, and his gaze dropped immediately. Though he had been with the organization since the start, he was also the youngest of those gathered in the room, and, she’d found, the most likely to be contrary. She trusted his loyalty to the organization, but not to her.

“For someone so quick to criticize my son, you yourself seem fairly impatient to act,” She said icily, and Hemson just shrugged. “Luckily, I happen to be in agreement. I’ll study these plans, make sure that they’re bulletproof. If they are, we’ll start with the smallest one, and escalate based on our success.”

There was a consenting rumble throughout the room as Lillian tucked the papers into her purse. As if on signal, the group began to rise. “Anything else?”

There was no immediate answer as they began to shuffle out of the room, back towards their various research stations. However, Lowenstein hung back, waiting until the others left, and only he and Lillian were in the room. 

Once they were alone, he spoke. “Tell me, have you given any thought to that vigilante?” He asked her, his expression darkly earnest.

Lillian gave him a searching look. “I have. Why do you ask?”

He gave an overly-casual shrug, failing to disguise his interest in the subject. “I spoke to Bill over at the police department. Since we didn’t have much luck with the bullets we recovered, I thought he might know something. He took a look at our evidence, and apparently was able to find enough DNA to confirm it to be the same as what was on the other bullets.”

He paused to take a breath before continuing. Lillian raised her eyebrows, intrigued. “Did they find anything else?”

“Apparently, yeah,” He grinned, and there was something malignant in the way his lip curled back. “Bill told me he’s almost sure that the DNA is Kryptonian.”

“Kryptonian,” Lillian breathed. Suddenly, she felt as if all the wind had been knocked out of her. “That means…”

Lowenstein nodded soberly, though his eyes gleamed with a lurid excitement. “We may have another Superman situation on our hands.”

“Right.” Lillian’s thoughts raced. Moments ago, she’d barely spared more thought towards the vigilante than she had her daughter’s secret acquaintance - regarding them as nothing more than a pesky thorn in her side. But now…

“Lowenstein, I want you to change the next shipments,” She said briskly, plans forming as she spoke. “Take out our low level Kryptonite weapons, and distribute them to be mixed in with the regular orders.”

Lowenstein’s head jerked back in surprise. “You’re trying to bring the vigilante down that quickly?”

“No. I want to sniff them out,” She said. “And then, once I know exactly who or what they are, I want to use them.”

She watched as Lowenstein drank in her words, the leery grin returning to his face. He smacked one fist into the other palm, rubbing his hands together eagerly.

“I’m on it,” He answered. “And when you find them…?”

“I’ll hand them over to you for testing,” She confirmed. “And after we run the tests that _I_ want...they’ll be all yours.”

Upon hearing this, Lowenstein's expression turned positively gleeful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm thinking about giving Kara a suit with pants rather than a skirt...what do you guys think? I just feel like this version of Kara would prefer that, but also I could see her in the traditional outfit as well. So tell me what you guys think, and that will help me decide.
> 
> Also, Lowenstein is definitely not a canon character, but an OC I created for a different SuperCorp AU, which is currently languishing in development hell somewhere in my fanfic folder. I decided to bring him over to this story because I needed somebody as Lillian's right hand man, and I felt like he was sufficiently creepy enough.


	9. The training session

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys, I’m finally back with an update! This one took waaaay longer than I expected, partly because I’ve been up to my neck with work, and I’m only able to write and post on my phone. The other reason is that I basically wrote this entire chapter over the first part of the week, and then read it over, and it was....bad. So bad. And I tried to salvage it, but eventually realized that the only thing I could do was to rewrite the thing from scratch. So here it is, and I feel much better with the result, so I hope you will enjoy it as well. And I know Lena has been pretty absent, but she’s gonna take a much bigger role pretty soon!

Kara had no more than a very dim memory of physical exertion. 

The last time she could recall feeling anything close to exhaustion had been in her childhood - though even that didn’t say much, because she had grown up in the cloistered buildings of a planet in the dusk of its lifetime, and accordingly never had had much cause to venture outdoors.

Therefore, since arriving on earth, Kara had always assumed herself incapable of physical exhaustion - and she never had cause to believe otherwise. On earth, she had never felt her muscles tremble with effort, never felt a bead of sweat drip down her face. She had never felt her lungs burn with effort.

Until the past three weeks.

Apparently, Kryptonians weren’t immune to physical exhaustion - it just took them an extraordinary amount of effort to feel it.

“Winn, can I put it down now?” Kara called out to the ant-sized figure of her friend below. Her voice came out strained with effort as she hovered high in the air, arms braced above her head. In her hands she balanced a rusted train car, dwarfing her in its shadow. The car itself, though rather unwieldy, was not the cause of her gritted teeth and trembling arms; rather, the several cars that dangled from each side, swaying precariously in the wind, and creaking at the coupling links, made the whole contraption hazardously difficult to keep stable. It was this balancing act that had led to the bead of sweat slowly dripping down her nose - a sensation she’d never felt before on earth.

“Just a second….” Winn glanced momentarily up at the floating spectacle, his expression filled with awe. He squinted to make out his friend’s silhouette beneath the train, and then dropped his gaze back to the laptop, his fingers flying across the keys. “....And...yes! You can put it down.”

With a sigh of relief Kara began to float back towards the ground, lowering the train as she did so. She began to guide the cars as she approached, one at a time, maneuvering each so they sat perfectly aligned on the rail - as if they had never been moved. Her face screwed up in concentration as she worked, until, finally, she let the last car touch down. It gave a creaking groan as it settled, and released a small shower of rust onto the ground.

Kara landed lightly a moment after, her face breaking into an exhilarated grin as she surveyed her work. She stood there for a moment, reaching up to wipe a bead of sweat from her brow, until the sound of Winn’s delighted whoop made her turn. 

Winn had stood up from the plastic lawn chair which served as his makeshift observation post, and, as Kara turned to face him, gave her two thumbs up. She smiled and bounded towards him - excitement pulling her along just a little too fast to be considered human speed - and stopped short a meter away, causing Winn to give a slight flinch. Three weeks still hadn’t gotten him entirely used to seeing her powers so openly displayed.

“Okay admit it, _that_ was fine motor control,” She said, bouncing slightly on the soles of her feet, before bending over to reach for his laptop. “Can I input the data?”

“Um, no,” Winn replied, hastily snatching away the computer. “You know the rules - I’m the tech guy, and only the tech guy gets to touch the computer.”

She frowned at him, but didn’t make another move to grab it. “Okay, fine, but admit it - that was an improvement.”

“Oh, are you kidding?” He nodded eagerly, and dropped back into the lawn chair, opening the laptop that he had been clutching to his chest, safely out of Kara’s grip. “That was crazy! The way you set it down, without even a scratch? That was insane - especially since last time you basically smashed the first three cars.”

Kara winced at the memory. The first time she had attempted that same exercise - dragging a train up in the air before returning it, unharmed, to its original position - she had accidentally plowed herself straight into the ground, taking three cabins with her, and utterly decimating the railway tracks they’d been using. Winn had thought for one panicky moment that his friend was dead, until she popped out of the wreckage, covered in dust and debris, but unharmed. Well, unharmed physically. Kara’s pride, however, had taken quite the blow.

She hadn’t expected, that, of all the potentially weak areas she’d have to work on, her ability to control her strength would be at the top of the list. After all, for the past six years Kara had more or less managed to operate successfully at a human level; keeping her extraordinary strength under wraps to the point that using the right amount of power in any movement had become instinctive. When Winn suggested she try lifting and moving around train cars in order to develop a baseline for his strength analysis, she had no reason to think that her fine motor control wouldn’t prove just as effective while utilizing her full strength.

She had been mistaken - and not only that, she had both destroyed the locomotive they’d been using, and made a fool of herself at the same time. It was one of her more embarrassing experiences since the start of her training. 

“Don’t remind me,” She groaned, red tinting her cheeks, and dove behind his chair for her backpack, praying he’d drop the conversation. After successfully locating the bag she rummaged through the pockets, and after a long moment pulled out a candy bar. As she tore off the wrapper and began to munch, Winn took the hint, sliding his gaze back to the laptop. Without a glance back, he held his hand out towards where she stood behind him. “Hand me the bracelets?”

Kara gave him a nod that he couldn’t see, before shoving the rest of the candy bar into her mouth and uncoupling the metal bracelets she wore on each wrist. She deposited them into Winn’s outstretched hand, who took the circlets and connected them to the laptop. Immediately, the program began to compile, spitting out long rows of numbers.

The bracelets had been Kara’s idea, but Winn’s execution. She’d suggested that they would need to find some way of measuring the physical effort she would expend while training, in order to compile a profile on her strengths and weaknesses. Winn’s solution was to steal his mother’s old fitness trackers and cobble them into something similar to a fitness watch - albeit one specifically capable of tracking Kryptonian physical data. 

“It might take a few minutes,” He mumbled, eyes still glued to the screen, and reached into Kara’s backpack to grab a candy bar, only to find his hand slapped away.

“Those are mine,” She rebuked lightly, before reaching in to take another one for herself. “I need the energy.”

“Pretty sure we brought those just so you wouldn’t get hangry again.” He rolled his eyes, but drew his hand back anyway. Kara shrugged and moved to stand directly behind him, peering over his shoulder at the screen.

“D’you think I’m ready to do more combat-y stuff?” She asked through a mouthful of chocolate, having stuffed half the candy bar into her mouth. Winn gave her a disgusted look before answering.

“I’m not sure. Your fine motor control is improving a lot, but you could probably practice more to make it perfect. I think it might be a good idea to keep with the strength training.”

“Why don’t we do both?” Kara suggested, shoving the last half of the candy bar into her mouth and chewing thoughtfully. “Half the time I could work on lifting stuff and control and everything, and then the other half we could start working on, say, combat scenarios. Get me ready for the streets.”

“Maaaybe,” Winn said, drawing out the word as his forehead crinkled in thought. “I suppose it would be more efficient. What’s the rush though? I thought you wanted to lay low awhile. Anyway, I still don’t have your suit ready.”

Kara shrugged, gulping down the last of the candy bar before speaking. “I know, I know. Trust me Winn, I don’t want to rush - I want to be as ready as I can before I go back out. It’s just that...well, don’t you think the situation has gotten a little precarious since I stopped crime fighting?”

“You mean what’s been happening in the news?” At Kara’s nod, Winn frowned, worry pulling the corners of his mouth down. The last few weeks had seen a multitude of disquieting headlines plastered across the newspapers - most detailing violent crimes, often at the hands of alien criminals or advanced alien weaponry. The police had been at full capacity for weeks, and yet the storm showed no sign of easing up; rather, it seemed to be getting worse. Each passing day brought news of another shootout, another murder, another violent robbery. It had gotten to the point that few ventured out after dark, and there was even talk of imposing a curfew. Winn and Kara had followed the news, silently, but with a creeping sense of dread that increased with every crime.

“It almost feels like somebody’s doing it on purpose, you know?” Kara tossed out, and at Winn’s questioning glance, gave a shrug and continued. “I mean, like somebody’s trying to cause hysteria or something. I know there’s been some of this stuff over the past few years, but in the last few weeks it feels...I don’t know, intentional.”

“Hmmm,” Winn hummed, considering her words. “Maybe. It has spiked lately, hasn’t it? Even if it’s not intentional, there’s gonna be a mass panic if it doesn’t die down soon. I hear people have been protesting outside the city council.”

“Exactly.” Kara gave a sage nod, her expression somber. “That’s why I was thinking that we could maybe speed up my training - I don’t think the police are enough to deal with this stuff. But if you had a superhero out on the streets, stopping these crimes -“

“- It would definitely calm a public panic,” Winn finished, and his eyes widened as he considered the possibility. He shook his head slowly, impressed despite himself. “Just like in Metropolis with you cousin! You know, maybe you’re right. A superhero might be exactly what the city needs right now.”

“See?” Kara exclaimed, relief flooding her face at Winn’s quick agreement. Winn always got exactly what she was thinking - saw how much she could help the city. Why couldn’t Alex or Kal El see things as clearly as her best friend did? “So, don’t you think it’d be a good idea to speed up my training?”

At this Winn hesitated, face torn. There was a slight pause, until at last he gave a nod of agreement - though the motion was less than enthusiastic. “That does make sense, I guess. It’s just…”

Kara cocked her head inquisitively, sensing the reluctance hanging off his words. “It’s just what?”

“It’s just -“ He sighed, and then let the words spill out. “What am I gonna do once you’re done training? And once you have your suit? I mean, obviously you’re the one who’s equipped here to fight crime but, well, I want to help too!”

Kara’s brow knit together at his outburst, and she opened her mouth to respond, but Winn plowed right ahead.

“I know you said it’s too dangerous for a regular human so I thought I could at least help with your training - but I didn’t think you’d improve so fast! I mean, I have stuff planned out for _months_ , Kara. Months!”

He paused, sucking in a breath to continue, but before he could Kara cut him off with a frantic wave of her hands.

“Wait, wait! Winn, do you really think I’m gonna get rid of you just like that?”

“I, um…” He seemed thrown by the question. “No?”

Kara let out a sigh that was somewhere between relief and exasperation. “Winn. I’ve already told you my biggest, deepest secret, that only a couple of other people know about me. You were the one who thought of this whole training thing.  
Do you really think I’m gonna use you and lose just you like that?”

A sheepish blush began to creep up his cheeks. “I wasn’t sure.”

“Of _course_ not,” Kara told him, adding in a dramatic eye-roll for emphasis. “Dude, whether you like it or not, we’re in this together.”

“Oh, good.” Winn smiled, though he still seemed rather uncertain. “But, um, what am I gonna do after you’re done training? In the interest of honest self-assessment, I’m pretty sure I’d last about a minute fighting crime.”

Kara thought for a moment, her brow crinkling, and then brightened. “Hey, every superhero has a sidekick, or a behind-the-scenes guy, right? Like Batman has Robin, my cousin has James -“

“Wait, who‘s James?”

Kara made a dismissive gesture and kept talking. “What if you’re the behind the scenes guy? Fix up my suit, help me track down crimes, invent new strategies and cool techie things - you could be like technical support support guy!”

Winn frowned. “How about we just call me the computer guy or something?”

“That works too,” Kara nodded happily, her eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. “Either way, I’m gonna need someone like that, and you’re way better at computers than me.”

“Alright,” Winn responded, a slow smile spreading across his face as he warmed to the idea. “You know, I was kind of hoping you’d say something like that.”

Kara grinned at him in return. “Something tells me you’ve already got some ideas.”

“Oh, you bet I do,” He scoffed, and slapped his hands together. “Want me to show you some of the stuff? And then we can look at your stats for this session.”

“Sure!” Kara said eagerly, and then, as Winn moved his arm back towards the computer, her gaze caught on the screen of his wristwatch, glinting in the fading light. “Wait, what time is it?”

“Um…” Winn glanced sideways at his watch. “5:35?”

Kara blanched. “Tell me that’s not accurate.”

“Uh, actually I have my watch calibrated to the most accurate clock on the planet, so -“

Kara stopped listening after the first word. “Oh _no,_ ” She moaned, and began tossing things into her backpack - jacket, snacks, a textbook that had fallen to the ground. “I forgot that me and Alex have sisters’ night! I promised her I’d be back at 5:30.”

“Oh, that’s not good.” Winn’s eyes widened. “But hasn’t it been a while since you guys did that? I thought you said she’d been too busy at her new job.”

“No, it’s not that,” Kara admitted, running a hand frustratedly through her hair as she smoothed down flyaways and tugged her ponytail into place. “I mean, it’s partly because we’ve been busy, but also because we’ve been arguing so much lately that neither of us really wanted to - shoot, where are my glasses?”

She broke off, patting her pockets frantically. Winn silently plucked the glasses from his pocket, where they’d been safely stowed before the session, and held them out to her. She took them with a relieved smile and put them on before continuing.

“So anyway, ever since I stopped with the vigilante thing, we’ve been arguing less, and yesterday she asked me if I wanted to have a sisters’ night, and obviously I do, except now I’m late, and she’s gonna think I don’t care!”

Her voice rose slightly at the end of the sentence, and Winn gave her a sympathetic look.

“Listen, why don’t you get going now then?” He said, and closed his laptop before standing up from the lawn chair. “I can finish compiling the data tonight, and we can go over it before we start tomorrow.”

Kara nodded in agreement, before snatching up the recently vacated plastic chair and snapping it shut. There was a quick blur of motion and Winn blinked, only to see his friend standing in front of him empty-handed, the lawn chair neatly deposited in the backseat of his mother’s beaten up Honda. 

“Tomorrow?” Kara asked, her face falling. “I actually, uh, can’t make it tomorrow.”

“Huh?” Winn glanced back and forth between the car and his friend, momentarily dazed by the casual show of power. After a moment, the words registered, and he swung his gaze back to Kara. “What? Why not?”

“Well,” She dropped her gaze to the ground for a second, chewing her lip as she tried to frame her next sentence. “So, actually, Lena’s coming over to my apartment tomorrow - to study,” She clarified quickly.

“Right. Study.” Winn rocked back on his heels, squinting at her with a look of disbelief. “Really, Kara? Another study date? Listen, it’s super obvious that you like her -“

“It’s not like -” She protested, her face turning bright pink. Winn ignored her and continued.

“- So shouldn’t you just, I don’t know, ask her out already? It’s getting kind of ridiculous.”

“It’s not that simple,” She huffed, momentarily forgetting her hurry. Reaching up, she began to fidget with her glasses. “I don’t even know if she, you know -“

“Likes you?” Winn finished for her. At Kara’s confirming blush, he shrugged. “Never know unless you try. Why don’t you ask her out on a real date?”

Kara groaned. “I don’t _know_ \- I always try, but I chicken out at the last moment  
and make it a study thing. Besides, I barely know anything about her! We mostly just talk about school and stuff.”

“Yeah, that’s because you’re on a _study_ date. Emphasis on the _study_. Maybe if you took her on a real date, you’d actually learn some stuff about her.”

Kara frowned. “I do know _some_ stuff about her. Like she’s really good at computers, and wants to work in technology development, and likes David Bowie.”

Winn raised one eyebrow. “What’s her last name?” He challenged.

There was a heavy pause. Kara scowled, and then sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat.

“Okay, maybe I _should_ ask her on a real date,” She admitted. 

“That’s what I’ve been saying,” Winn said, his voice gloating. “If you ask her on a real date tomorrow, I guess I can forgive pushing practice one day. Anyway, shouldn’t you be getting home? It’s already 5:40.”

“Shoot!” Kara slapped her hand to her forehead in dismay, before hoisting up her bag and swinging it over her shoulder. “Thanks, Winn! You’re okay with getting home though, right?”

He nodded, and gestured for her to get going. “Don’t worry about me. You know my mom wouldn’t let me use the car if she weren’t sure it’d get me home in one piece. That thing’s been around since before I’ve been born.”

Kara frowned, her forehead wrinkling. “Somehow, that doesn’t sound reassuring.”

“My point is, it’s indestructible,” Winn said, and gestured again impatiently towards the sky. “Now, do you want to risk Alex’s wrath or no?”

Kara laughed, nodding in agreement, and launched herself into the air. She paused, hovering several meters above the ground, and gave him one final wave. “Night!”

Winn cupped his mouth with his hands and shouted “Good night!”. She smiled and then shot off into the night sky, the force of her movement sending a gust of wind across the old train tracks. Winn watched the sky for a moment, grinning to himself, before he dropped his gaze and began to trudge towards the car. Flying looked so cool - though he didn’t quite have to courage to fly with Kara, despite her multiple offers. If only he could have superpowers of his own - though, from what Kara had told him, the stuff she’d gone through to get them didn’t seem worth it.

Still, Winn had his own superpowers - his skill with technology and computers, which came as naturally to him as breathing. So maybe the front lines weren’t his thing, but was that really a bad thing? Better to leave the violence to those indestructible enough to take it. Winn could help in his own way.

He was still lost in thought as he slid into the beat-up car, pulling the door shut behind him as he tossed his laptop on the passenger seat. He fastened his seatbelt and turned the ignition automatically, still ruminating over his new job.

“The computer guy,” He said softly to himself. “The tech guy. Tech wizard. Guy in the chair - no, man in the chair. I like that.”

Such was his focus as he finally pulled into the city limits that he didn’t see the black car parked unobtrusively down a side street. He didn’t notice as the car swung silently out onto the street to follow him, nor did he pay attention when, after several blocks, it made a right turn at an intersection and disappeared. 

The black car continued after the intersection for some blocks, before sliding smoothly into a space on the side of the road, tucking itself between a mini cooper and a food truck.

Lowenstein put the car in ‘park’ before reaching over to the passenger seat and grabbing a nondescript cellphone - not a smart phone, but the kind one might dispose of easily. He punched in a number and brought the phone to his ear. It rang twice, and then Lillian’s curt tone came through the line.

“How was it?” She asked, not bothering with any pleasantries.

“Better,” Lowenstein replied, and glanced cautiously out the rear view, more out of habit than anything. “I got the license plate this time.”

“And you’re sure it was the right car?” She asked anxiously. 

“Definitely,” He said, his voice dropping to an unnecessary whisper. “It’s the same car that we’ve seen the last few days, and it’s the only one that comes from the train tracks this time of day.”

“And you weren’t close enough for them to hear you?”

“No, no. I waited just inside the city limits - it’s at least five miles from there to the tracks. If this really is who we think, I don’t think they’d have a reason to think anybody was watching.”

A sigh of relief. “Good. We’ll start searching for the car’s owner immediately.”

There was a pause over the line, as Lowenstein hesitated. Lillian immediately senses the indecision.

“What’s the problem?” She snapped. “Are you getting cold feet?”

“No, not at all,” He said quickly. “It’s just - are you sure this is related? I mean, why the train tracks of all places?”

He heard her scoff over the phone line. “Please, Lowenstein. You helped me compile Superman’s profile. You know he trained extensively at Metropolis’s abandoned rail station before he even looked at a cape. Don’t you think it’s odd that, a few weeks after our suspiciously similar vigilante goes off grid, a car starts heading out to the train tracks nearly every day, at the same time?”

Lowenstein rubbed the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing in exasperation. “Yes, but we only know that because we started watching them. For all we know, this could have been happening for months.”

“You think I haven’t considered that?” Lilian’s voice had turned positively icy. “Lowenstein, we’ve worked together for many years - don’t presume to doubt me now.”

He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I’m not doubting you.”

“Good. Now listen; obviously my connections don’t just end at the city limits. I’ve been talking to the rail station master and he informed me that nobody’s gone out to those tracks in years - even teenagers and criminals tend to stay away. Considering this information, I believe our car to be a valid lead.”

“Alright, alright,” Lowenstein replied, and decided to throw in the towel. “I understand your point. I just think it’s a thin lead.”

“It’s all we’ve got at the moment.” Lillian’s tone had thawed somewhat, returning to its earlier briskness. “I want you to take the information on the car and run it down to our people at the organization. Have then go through the city database, and find out who owns that car. We’ll go from there.”

“Right on it,” He muttered, and listened to the immediate dial tone as Lillian ended the call. She made an annoying habit out of that; issuing orders as if he were some simple employee, and then hanging up without so much as a goodbye. As if they hadn’t worked together for over twenty years.

No matter. Lowenstein tossed the phone back onto the passenger seat, and began to maneuver back onto the street. Lillian could be tough to work with at times, but even he couldn’t deny her brilliant mind. Manipulative, yes, but wasn’t that just a part of brilliance? There was certainly a mad spark of genius in her ability to think four steps ahead of everyone, at all times. Besides, it was only through CADMUS - and by extension Lillian - that he could get what he wanted.

And there was nothing he wanted more than a live Kryptonian. 

Lowenstein was the first true expert on xenobiology, having established himself as such thanks to years of experimental study and research - the majority of it at CADMUS. There weren’t many organizations that would allow a scientist to perform live dissections, and as such he had gained quite an edge in his field. 

Xenobiology was his passion, and his life’s work - and more than anything, Lowenstein hungered for the chance to take apart a live Kryptonian. There was a certain honor in it; after all, the species was all but extinct, and it would be an enormous shame to let the incredible knowledge encoded in their biology die with them. Superman, of course, was out of reach, but if Lillian was right about this vigilante…

Lowenstein hummed as he drove through the now dark streets, thoughts about his potential experiments running pleasantly through his head. The tune came out flat and listless, more of a buzz than a hum. In his mind’s eye, he had already begun cataloguing a list of experiments to conduct on the Kryptonian. The possibility was so near, he found himself shivering with excitement. There wasn’t much left to do - they were ever so slowly pruning through the city register, hacking their way through thousands of identities in order to find the specimen. 

And once they found it, it would be all his.

***

Maggie slammed her hand on her desk in frustration. It didn’t do much except hurt her hand. She didn’t even have the pleasure of making Sethers jump, since she’d sent him home early so that he could spend some time with his wife and kids. There was nobody left in the office except herself, eyelids drooping and nose buried deep in crime reports, though every few minutes she found herself stealing glances at the thin case file neatly placed in the corner. It was the case of the vigilante, and it held been sitting unsolved for the past three weeks.

At the sudden influx of alien crime - which included not only alien criminals, but, worryingly, advanced alien weaponry - she’d been forced to temporarily shelve the case. It hadn’t exactly been her decision; rather, her request for a search warrant had been turned down due to insubstantial evidence. Apparently a gut feeling and a sore foot were not enough to go on.

It didn’t help that immediately after Maggie requested the warrant, the vigilante had up and disappeared. It was almost like she knew she was being tracked - which Maggie didn’t put past her. There was a lot going on in that case that she couldn’t put her finger on, and though she had reluctantly turned her attention to other matters, the unsolved file lingered at the back of her mind, haunting her.

It didn’t help that the sister - Alex - hadn’t called, not that Maggie had really expected her to. The woman had texted, only once, to cheekily remind her that it was unlawful to search a house without a warrant. Maggie couldn’t decide if the text was meant to be flirtatious, or a warning.

She hadn’t responded, deciding to err on the side of caution. It probably hadn’t meant anything, except that Alex was in the FBI, and didn’t take nicely to people threatening her sister. It had been a reach anyway, as well as borderline unprofessional to give her phone number to somebody who might be implicated in a case - no matter how much trouble she had getting her out of her head.

Not that it mattered, because Maggie wasn’t on that case anymore, anyway. Hadn’t been for three weeks. 

Which meant that if she texted the woman at that very moment, it would no longer be unprofessional.

It would also be extremely awkward, since she’d have to explain why she decided to respond to her text after nearly three weeks of radio silence.

Fortunately, Maggie Sawyer had never been one who shied away from being upfront. She picked up her phone and hesitated on the call button, before pressing the text key instead.

_Maggie: hey, this is maggie sawyer, the detective who talked to you a few weeks ago. you mentioned you were in the fbi, which i’ve been looking into a job there. was wondering if you would mind meeting up to discuss it over coffee?_

_Maggie: or dinner, if you’re interested ;)_

The reply came not ten minutes later, and Maggie swiped it open immediately.

_Alex: dinner sounds nice. seven tomorrow sound good to you? you choose the place_

_Maggie: great! hope you like vegan food_

_Alex: i almost canceled just now_

_Maggie: fine, i’ll compromise at vegetarian_

_Alex: as long as pizza counts_

_Maggie: of course it does_

_Maggie: see u tomorrow ;)_

_Alex: looking forward to it :)_

Maggie smiled and placed her phone back on the desk, a swell of - something, bubbling up in her chest. Suddenly the mountain of reports on her desk didn’t seem so daunting. She reached for the next one, and suddenly found her gaze snagging on the unfinished case file sitting in the corner. The smile slid off her face, to be replaced by a scowl. Was she really making the right decision, getting involved? If the vigilante reappeared…

Maggie shook the thought from her head. Odds are she wouldn’t be coming back to the case, swamped as she was with more pressing crimes. Anyway, gut feeling notwithstanding, what were the chances that Alex’s sister was their elusive vigilante? No - it was too unlikely. Even Maggie didn’t have that bad of luck.

What she did have, however, was a date. And as Maggie kicked back in her chair, her gaze sliding dreamily off into the distance as the crime reports lay momentarily forgotten on her desk, she couldn’t help but think that she had a good feeling about Alex. Her gut was telling her that there was something special about the woman.

And if her gut was telling her, how could Maggie doubt it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, thank you for reading :) I did have an entire section originally written about why Kara does in fact sweat and feel tired when she expends a lot of effort, but I couldn’t fit it in when I rewrote the chapter. I might try and add it in elsewhere, or you can of course ask me if you’re curious on my take! Also, the votes are in, and I think we’re going to go with pants instead of skirt for Kara - i feel like it just makes sense for this story


	10. A first date - for real

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this chapter is an absolute beast. Really, it ran over at twice as long as my normal chapters, and I almost split it into two, but I didn’t want to put you guys through another chapter where nothing much happens. Nope, here we’ll finally get some action of a certain type, and the plot will really start picking up again! I actually didn’t even manage to fit everything I wanted into this chapter, and unfortunately had to push some of my planned parts to the next chapter - which might end up being fairly long as well. I really gotta learn how to be more concise.

Lena wanted to kick herself over her stupidity.

It really was naive, she thought bitterly, to assume her mother hadn’t been tracking her through every channel of communication. She knew enough about her mother’s contacts to know that she didn’t have much in the way of eyes or ears on campus - and so she had fallen into the trap of complacency, assuming her lack of suspicious activities on campus would keep her off her mother’s radar.

Of course not. Her mother always had an eye on her - and was always at least a step or two ahead.

But her phone! Her own phone! How could she have been so dumb as to think that her mother - the matriarch of a technological empire - would let Lena’s phone go unbugged? Obviously Lena had jailbroken the phone the second she’d gotten it, and run several security tests to boot, but the fact that Lillian had bought the phone herself for her should have been an enormous red flag.

No. As Lena sat defeatedly on her bed, staring miserably at the locked home screen, she couldn’t help but feel as ignorant as her mother had always said she was. She was at the top of her class in computer science, and yet couldn’t catch her mother’s tracking program - the program that was about to ruin everything, before it had even started.

It was a sly little bug, so subtly inserted that it took Lena nearly three weeks to notice something was amiss. The program, from what she was able to discern, appeared to read all of her incoming and outgoing communication, and then, when it encountered an unfamiliar contact, flagged and sent the pertinent conversation to her mother. It didn’t actually change much on her phone itself - which was why Lena had originally missed it.

However, as far as she was concerned, the most pressing problem that rose from the bug’s existence was not her mother’s breach of trust and privacy; Lena expected far too little of her to be surprised by something like that. Rather it was the fact that, earlier that morning, Lena had received a cheerful text from Kara, wishing her a good day and asking if she wanted to come over for a study date the following day. In response Lena had stared at the text for nearly an hour, unable to decide on a course of action, or even formulate a legible response.

A study date. At her _house_. Her crush had just invited her, in fairly explicit terms, to spend time alone with her at her house. And she had used the term _date_.

Her mother would never let her go. Not that Lena had planned on telling her, but now, considering this new revelation over her mother’s prying eyes, Lena’s hands were bound.

Unless…

Lena kicked her feet out from beneath her, and sprang off the bed, propelled by a renewed sense of determination. She made her way over to her desk and dropped into her desk chair, where her laptop sat unopened. She flipped open the screen and waited as it began to power up, tapping her fingers impatiently against the desk’s wooden surface. She wasn’t sure her scheme would work, but it was the best shot she had, and of all her electronic devices, Lena trusted her computer the most. She had built it herself, from scratch, and kept it closely guarded, not even allowing Lex to use it - even back when they’d been close.

As soon as the computer booted up, Lena ran a few quick scans, checking for any signs of tampering. Once she was satisfied that there were none - or as satisfied as she could be - she connected her phone to the laptop, and began the first stage of her plan.

The first stage involved locating and figuring out the exact parameters of the program her mother had installed. She had an idea where to look, since the program seemed confined to her texts and calls, but she couldn’t be sure. At the very least, that was where she had first noticed something off. 

The first red flag had come when one of her texts to Kara had accidentally sent twice, for no discernible reason. Normally, Lena would have brushed the blip off - double texting wasn’t an unheard of error - except that it was Kara, and for some reason the error made her feel faintly embarrassed, as if she’d done it on purpose. So, she’d apologized.

_Lena: oops, sorry for the double text! my phones acting up_

_Kara: haha it’s all good, but i didn’t get a double text :)_

_Lena: ah okay, weird lol_

She cursed herself for making the situation that much more awkward, and a part of her wanted to immediately dismiss the instance as a simple bug. However, Lena wasn’t a Luthor for nothing; much as she wanted to scoff at the idea, a bigger part of her couldn’t seem to let it go.

If the text wasn’t sent to Kara, where did it go?

She sat on the suspicion for a few weeks, trying to ignore it - or rather, not willing to believe it - until finally her curiosity got the better of her, and she decided she had to go looking, if only to put her own doubts to rest.

Figuring it out was easier than she expected; once she got down to to the task, it took her only a few minutes to hack the app itself and trace the text back to another phone.

A phone which happened to belong to her mother.

The discovery, though disappointing, was...unsurprising, to say the least. After all, who else but her mother would be so controlling as to screen all of her communications?

Not for long, however, Lena thought grimly. If her mother was going to engage in cyber warfare, she’d be mistaken if she thought Lena would just sit down and take it.

With her phone connected, Lena cracked her knuckles and got to work. First thing was to whip up a quick program that would scan her entire phone - basically an antivirus program, if the virus happened to be her mother’s tampering. To Lena’s surprise, the program returned a result quicker than she expected, delivering the exact location of her mother’s planted bug. Apparently, Lillian didn’t deem Lena devious enough to figure out her little scheme.

Honestly though, Lillian had always had a habit of underestimating Lena - or of misreading her. Lena allowed herself a hard smile as she recalled the first time her girlfriend from boarding school had come to visit the Luthor estate - and how Lillian had never seemed to catch onto the truth of their relationship, despite their rather half-hearted attempts to hide it. She _had_ become convinced that Lena was using her close ‘friendship’ and constant sneak-outs to hide a secret boyfriend somewhere in the city, but _that_ was another story entirely.

Still, if her mother wanted to be selectively obtuse, that could only benefit Lena. As her hastily-written program finished its scan, it highlighted the pertinent discovery and asked:

**Remove malicious program? Type YES or NO**

Without a moment of hesitation, she clicked **NO**. Then, rather than closing out her program, she clicked on her mother’s bug, pulled its data, and copied it to her own computer. Once the entirety of her mother’s program was safely copied in her own files, Lena moved on to stage two.

If stage one involved simply identifying the problem, then stage two would be eliminating it. Or rather, diverting it. She knew that the moment her mother stopped receiving Lena’s communications, she would know something was up, if she didn’t know already - and Lena couldn’t be entirely sure that her mother didn’t have some safeguard placed inside the bug to detect tampering.

Therefore, she didn’t want to get rid of the program entirely - that option was far too risky. Rather, she was going to use it. Which meant that Lena had to go in and change the code of the program itself, disemboweling its intended function in order to convert it to her own use.

Luckily, Lena had been writing programs since she was six years old.

Once she entered the program, it only took a few minutes to understand just how she could convert its functions for her own use, and less than an hour of actually rewriting the program. It was fast, sloppy work, but by the end of it, as Lena examined the changes, she couldn’t help but feel a spark of satisfaction at her devious handiwork. Her mother was about to find herself a victim of her own hubris - not that she would know it, which somehow made the victory taste even sweeter.

And now came the final - and most risky - stage. Holding her breath, Lena ran another scan on her phone, locating for the second time her mother’s bug. This time, when the program offered to delete it, she clicked **YES**. Then, immediately working quickly in case her mother had installed some way of alerting herself to the bug’s destruction, she downloaded her own version of the bug back onto her phone. After a tense few seconds of waiting, the program indicated a successful installation, and Lena let out the breath she had been holding. The whole process had taken less than a minute and a half.

She stared at her phone for a moment, hardly daring to believe she had succeeded. Had she succeeded? She couldn’t be sure, unless she could manage to get her hands on her mother’s phone - which, at the moment, wasn’t possible. Her mother was at work, and would be until the evening hours. Lena didn’t want to keep Kara on read that long.

At the moment, all she could do was use the program, and pray it would work as she’d intended. If it didn’t, she might as well have dug her own grave.

There was only one way to find out. 

She darted her hand out to snatch the phone from the desk, where it lay, still plugged in, as if by moving quickly enough she could prevent herself from chickening out. She typed in her password and immediately opened her messages, where Kara’s message from several hours earlier stared at her from the top of the list, demanding an answer. 

Now, for the moment of truth. She opened up the abandoned chat, and to her pleasant surprise, found exactly what she’d programmed; two text boxes, one stacked on top of the other. The first indicated that it was meant for Kara’s number, while the second was meant for her mother.

Perfect. Lena bit her lip, and typed in a quick affirmative response to Kara’s text, before moving on to her mother’s box. The second message took a good deal of editing, before she managed to create a satisfactory response, one that would hopefully deflect her mother’s suspicion from Lena’s comings and goings.

_Lena: i’m sorry, im staying late to get some help from my prof for my final project in adv prog :/_

She read it three times over, scrutinizing the tone and emoji placement, until at last she was satisfied enough to press send. When she did, only her agreement to Kara’s invitation popped up in the chat. The other text - the decoy - had hopefully been sent to her mother in lieu of her actual reply. If all went well, Lillian would begin to receive only the texts that Lena wanted her to see - or nothing at all. If Kara replied, the text would be sent only to Lena, who would then have the option of creating a fake reply from her friend, in order to send onto her mother’s phone.

It was a rushed rewrite of the original coding - clunky and not the most efficient, but not bad for an hour’s work. Lena leaned back in her desk chair, satisfied, only to see her phone beep almost immediately with her friend’s reply.

_Kara: great! see u tomorrow :)))_

A smile rose unbidden to her face as she read the message, and she replied immediately with a string of emojis, leaving her mother’s text box blank. She tried to make an effort not to add too many heart faces - there was no need to be so obvious with her affections. She was pathetic enough in person.

The task done, Lena put her phone once again to the side, and let her small smile swell into a positively goofy grin. Still, even as she celebrated her success, a spark of unease nagged at her. If only she could know for sure that her mother had received the text Lena had meant for her to receive. If the program hadn’t worked as it was supposed to, Lena assumed she’d find out the next day - her mother would simply make up some reason to keep her away.

Still, she couldn’t stop herself from testing the waters that next morning, when she happened to chance upon  
Lillian just before she left for class. Her mother was usually up well before Lena’s first class, but that day Lena happened to catch her mother sipping coffee in the dining room, as she rushed through with a piece of toast in hand. Her mother sat serenely, exuding an air of utmost contentment, as she scanned the paper splayed across the table.

‘Police overwhelmed as alien criminals continue to ravage National City’ ran the headline in blocky ominous letters. Her mother looked up from the page, and raised one eyebrow at Lena, who stopped in her tracks, hair disheveled and a piece toast hanging from her fingers.

“Late today?” Lillian asked, her tone lilting with the expected condescension, though to her surprise Lena didn’t detect the sharp edge that was usually present. It was almost...teasing.

“Um, sort of,” Lena said, unsure of how to respond, and glanced reflexively at her watch. She wasn’t really late, not exactly, but she was pushing it. 

Lillian gave a surprising, almost unlady-like snort into her coffee. “Just like Lex. Always rushing around.”

“Um.” Lena opened her mouth, and then shut it again. Her mother had never shied away from comparing her to Lex, but she could count on one hand the number of times those comparisons had been complimentary. Had she found out Lena’s plan? Was this her way of drawing her into confessing?

But no. As Lena stared at her, trying to find some intelligent response, her mother glanced between the newspaper and her phone, a small smirk playing at the corners of her lips. She was not the target here, Lena realized, but simply a lucky bystander to her mother’s good mood. Lillian only ever acted genial to Lena when she had made some sort of breakthrough or success in the business. 

Something must be going extraordinarily well with the company.

“How’s the business going?” Lena asked, recovering from her early shock to keep her voice as nonchalant as possible. 

Her mother looked up at her and grinned broadly - which only further convinced Lena that there had been some breakthrough at the company. Lena had never been a direct recipient of her mother’s smile, not that she’d ever particularly wanted to be.

“Very good,” Lillian purred, bringing her coffee cup to her lips and taking a delicate sip before placing it back down. She glanced at her phone again, and her grin widened. “We’ve made some...breakthroughs. Big things. It’ll bode well for our future.”

“That’s great,” Lena said, making a half-hearted attempt to seem interested. She glanced towards the front door, and then remembered her nagging suspicion from the day before. This was the perfect opportunity to put it to rest. “Oh, mother, I forgot to mention that I’m staying late today. I need to go over my semester project with Professor Korst.”

As soon as the words left her lips Lena tensed, eyes pinned to her mother as she waited to gauge her reaction. There was no reason for her to refuse - unless she knew. 

But her mother barely glanced up  
from the newspaper article she was scanning. “I hope this isn’t a sign that you’ve been falling behind.”

Lena let out a breath she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. This was more like the Lillian Luthor she recognized. “No, he just likes to be hands on, so he schedules meetings with all the students. I might get back kind of late though.”

“Hmm.” At this Lillian glanced up, examining Lena with a piercing gaze. At last, she turned back to the newspaper. “Don’t be out too late. There’s been a lot of crime on the streets lately.”

Lena rolled her eyes, already making her way towards the front door. Now she really was going to miss the bus if she didn’t run. “I won’t, mother. Anyway, I have pepper spray.”

Lillian didn’t deign to reply to this, signaling the conversation as over, and Lena tiptoed towards the front door, at last managing to slip out with an enormous sigh of relief. Her program had worked. Her secret was safe. 

And that evening, she had a date with Kara Danvers.

***

“Hey Alex, I told you my friend is coming over right?”

Kara’s voice carried from the hallway and into her room, the sound of her hasty footsteps right behind. She skidded to a halt in the open doorway, launching directly into an explanation before Alex even had the chance to answer.

“She’s coming over in like half an hour to study and - hey, are you going somewhere?”

Alex lowered the earring that she’d been about to put on and placed it on her dresser with a sigh, before turning away from the mirror to face her sister. 

“Who’s coming over?” She asked, and leaned back against the dresser, careful to avoid the open makeup jars behind her.

Kara’s eyes darted around the room, taking in the scattered clothes and shoes strewn across the floor, as well as the various accessories laid out on the dresser, before settling back upon her sister. She frowned, her expression shuttering into one of suspicion.

“Are you going out?” She demanded, not bothering to answer the query.

Alex gave her a sharp look, crossing her arms over her chest. “Maybe. But I’m pretty sure I asked you first.”

Kara scowled. Alex just raised one eyebrow and said nothing, waiting, until at last her sister groaned and gave in.

“Her name’s Lena and she’s a friend from school and she’s coming over to help me in history okay? Why does it matter?”

“I didn’t know you needed help in history,” Alex’s tone shifted slightly, her exasperation slipping into budding concern. “Is this something I should be worried about?”

“No,” Kara answered quickly, cheeks turning pink. Then she frowned and jutted out her chin, putting her hands to her hips. “Anyway, you didn’t answer _me._ Where are you going?”

The exasperation returned immediately. “Nowhere important,” Alex said, turning quickly back towards the mirror. She glanced at Kara’s reflection in the mirror, her hands still on her hips as her eyes narrowed suspiciously, and suppressed a groan. “Seriously, Kara. I’m just going to meet someone.”

“Meet someone?” In an instant, her suspicious expression morphed into one of delight. Kara stepped into the room, picking her way past discarded shirts and shoes to flop onto the bed. “Explain everything.”

Alex rolled her eyes, making sure that Kara caught the movement in the mirror. She busied herself with inserting the earring she had neglected, before answering. “There’s nothing to explain. Someone I know is thinking about moving over to the FBI, and wants to learn more about the job. I said I could talk to her.”

‘Someone she knew’ was a bit of a stretch, but there was no way in hell that Alex was going to tell Kara her date - if she could call it that - happened to be the police officer that had been sniffing around nearly a month ago. Alex wasn’t even sure if it was such a good idea to be going. Still, Kara had been keeping her promise, and the woman hadn’t tried to question her further after the first time...and she was cute.

“So it is a girl!” Kara crowed victoriously from where she lay on the bed. She flipped over onto her stomach, accidentally sending a discarded scarf fluttering to the floor. 

Alex gave her a disapproving glance over her shoulder. “Careful with my stuff,” She admonished. “Or you’re gonna be picking it up.”

“Don’t leave it out everywhere,” Kara responded, before continuing in her questioning, undeterred. “So, who is she? Where are you guys going? Is it a date? Is she gay?”

The questions came in an unrelenting stream, each one adding to the exasperation building in her stomach, until finally Alex slammed her hand down on the dresser and turned back around to face her sister. Kara lay expectantly on the bed, hands tucked under her chin, with an unbridled grin stretched across her face.

“The answer to all of your questions is ‘I don’t know,’” Alex said, and reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose. “We’re just meeting up, okay?”

Her answer to Kara’s badgering questions wasn’t entirely accurate; though Alex didn’t know much about the detective, nor where they would be going to eat, she was fairly positive that the woman was in fact, gay, and that this meetup was, for all intents and purposes, a date.

At her response, Kara’s grin dropped, before sliding into a disappointed frown. 

“Ugh, don’t be so lame, Alex!” She complained. “If she asked you out to dinner, I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be a date.”

“Why do you assume she asked me out?” Alex countered.

Kara gave her a disbelieving look. “Please, Alex, you’ve never asked a girl out. _Ever._ ”

Alex snorted at that, pointedly ignoring the smug look her sister now had plastered upon her face - no matter if she was right or not. Loathe though she was to admit it, there was a kernel of truth to the accusation. Since Alex’s self discovery and subsequent coming out over a year ago, her romantic life - not that it had ever been that exciting - had sort of...ground to a halt. Sure, there had been the relief in realizing she would never have to date a man again, but with that had come the bone-deep terror of not knowing what she was _supposed_ to be doing. There was no guidebook for dating women, or even being a lesbian, and she had found herself stymied again and again by the complexities of dating in a community she didn’t even know she was part of until very recently. Her attempts at Tinder and OkCupid were short lived, and ended in one or two awkward dates, devoid of chemistry. After that, Alex found it far too easy to slip into work and old habits, putting off romance in favor of protecting her sister. 

But she didn’t say that to Kara. She wasn’t even sure she could define those jumbled fears and insecurities to herself - never mind her alien younger sister, who still seemed to have a hard time grasping the binaries of human sexuality.

At Alex’s non-response, Kara let out an impatient huff of air. 

“You _know_ I’m right,” She said, and leveled an accusatory finger at her for good measure. “C’mon, Alex, what’s the problem? Just go on the date and have fun - you don’t have to overcomplicate it.”

Alex flushed, and her next words came out caustic. “Oh, like you’re one to talk. What about all of senior year when you went out with that kid you didn’t even like, and then cried on my shoulder for a month when he broke your heart?”

“Hey!” Kara launched herself into a sitting position, immediately defensive. “I’m an alien. I’m allowed to not understand your weird human ways. And everybody told me if a boy is mean to you it means he likes you!”

“That didn’t mean you had to date him,” Alex said gently. She shook her head. “Remind me to give you another lesson on earth dating traditions.”

Kara waved her hand dismissively, before reaching up to straighten her glasses. “I really don’t get all of your rituals and weird hang ups about dating - especially gender. On Krypton we were just matched genetically with our best fit and that was it.”

“Sorry we don’t have genetically matched soulmates here,” Alex deadpanned. “You’ll have to play the dating game just like everybody else.”

“Humph,” Kara frowned unhappily, blowing air out from her cheeks. “That sounds stressful.”

“It is.” Alex turned back towards the mirror, giving herself one last onceover. “Now can you stop bothering me about my potential love life? If I don’t get out of here on time there’s definitely not going to be a second date.”

“So it _is_ a date,” Kara said, sly triumph dripping into her tone. Alex caught her eye in the mirror and gave her a warning look.

“ _Fine._ Yes. I am going on a date. I think. Now aren’t you supposed to be meeting your friend and leaving me alone?”

“I’m not meeting her, she’s coming here.” Kara seemed slightly put out by the firm dismissal, but she slid off her bed and to her feet, running her hair through her braid, checking it’s integrity. “Fine though, I’ll go. But you have to tell me _everything_ afterwards.”

Alex‘s lips quirked into a small smile. “Wouldn’t dream of anything less.” 

***

By the time the doorbell rang, Kara was already too on edge to sit still. 

Alex had left a good half hour before, leaving Kara plenty of time to zip in and out of various outfits, throwing articles of clothing across the room in the same way she’d criticized her sister for not an hour beforehand. She agonized over each decision, debating over jeans or sweatpants, casual over dressy, and weighing it all against whether Lena would buy her chosen outfit as something she had just thrown on to lounge around at home.

In the end she went with jeans over sweats, compromising on a hoodie - though not her blue one, which was safely tucked away in a drawer. The outfit decided, she found herself with just enough time to tidy up before the doorbell rang.

Kara was at the door in an instant, and then made herself wait impatiently for at least half a minute so as not to appear too excited. At thirty-one seconds she flung the door open, just as Lena’s hand was raised to press the bell again.

“Hi Lena!” She chirped, unable to help the grin spreading across her face. Lena blinked in surprise, and lowered her hand slowly. A small smile appeared on her face.

“Kara - hi,” She said, and fidgeted awkwardly for a moment, unsure of what to say next. “Um, your apartment seems nice.”

“Oh - thanks!” Kara stepped back, opening the door wider, and gestured for her to enter. “Come in! It’s actually more my sister’s apartment, but obviously I live here too, so um, I guess it’s mine too.”

She winced inwardly at her rambling explanation. Could she possibly have said anything stupider? Lena glanced at her with a hesitant smile, before stepping inside the apartment. Kara found herself wondering if she was regretting the decision to come over. Then she wondered if she had understood the implication in her invitation. What if she just thought Kara was really serious about studying?

Lena couldn’t help but steal a quick glance at her friend before looking around at the apartment. It was cute, with a homey, lived in feel - the kind of place you could come in and kick your shoes off at the end of the day. Still, as she looked around the room, she found her gaze sliding back to Kara again and again, who was watching her anxiously, her hands twisting together. 

“I know it’s kind of small -“ She began, but Lena cut her off.

“I really like it,” She smiled, and hoped that her own nerves weren’t quite so obvious. Kara kept reaching up to adjust her glasses, and each time it threw her off. How did she manage to look so casually beautiful in jeans and a sweatshirt, her soft blonde locks pulled back into a messy braid? Lena felt the sudden urge to reach up and touch her hair, but resisted. Instead she said, “Honestly, I think it looks much better than my house. Mine is really big, but it’s not filled up at all, so it’s just empty. It’s kind of ugly from the outside too.”

Kara laughed, some of the tension leaving her face. “The front of our apartment building is really ugly too.”

“Yeah, but your apartment door looks great,” Lena grinned, and felt the nervous air between them start to fade. “Can I see your room?”

“What - oh yeah, of course!” Kara’s eyes widened, and she nearly tripped backwards over the sofa in an effort to show Lena towards the clearly visible hallway. She turned red and pushed her glasses back up her nose, before gesturing Lena down the hallway, more successfully this time.

“My room’s on the left,” She said, pointing towards a worn white door with _‘Kara Danvers - Do NOT enter!’ _written in blocky letters. “Alex’s is on the right, but she gets annoyed if I go in without telling her, so um, yeah.”__

__“Guess we’ll stick to your room then.” Lena grinned at Kara’s flushed expression, and then, at her friend’s assenting nod, pushed the door open and stepped inside._ _

__Her first thought was that it was so undeniably _Kara_. It wasn’t exactly messy, not really, but rather overflowing with things - an old dresser covered in knick-knacks, a closet door papered with posters and drawings, various books and memorabilia tucked into corners and on shelves. Most of the small space was taken up by the small desk and bed shoved into opposite corners. The bed looked as if it had been made in a rush, the corners hurriedly tucked in, wrinkling the galaxy-print bed sheets. On a whim, Lena craned her head back and felt a small glow fill her chest at the sight of neon stars pressed to the ceiling, carefully arranged to mimic the constellations of the night sky - though curiously, there were only a few she recognized._ _

__Kara trailed nervously after her into the room, fidgeting as she watched her friend examine the small space, her gaze at last falling to the glow-in-the-dark stars pressed to the ceiling. She wondered if she would think them childish, but instead Lena pointed upwards and said, “I have those exact same ones.”_ _

__“Really?” Kara exclaimed, relief flooding her voice. She moved over to where Lena stood. “My, um, cousin gave them to me when I was like fifteen. I know they’re supposed to be for kids, but I had fun putting them up.”_ _

__“My brother helped me put mine up.” A flash of something close to pain crossed her face, and Lena dropped her gaze to look around the room once more. “So you like outer space?”_ _

__“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Kara brought a hand up to adjust her glasses as she spoke, her voice growing animated. “I mean, don’t you? There’s so much out there we don’t even know about, so many opportunities and discoveries! I think space is the future of this species, honestly.”_ _

__“I agree!” Lena said fervently, and shrugged her backpack off, setting it down beside the bed, before sitting down herself. “There’s so much in the universe we don’t understand, and as humans I think our viewpoint is narrowed by staying on earth. There are so many aliens on earth already, don’t you think it’s time we did some exploring of our own?”_ _

__“Oh - yeah.” Kara’s rising enthusiasm for the conversation deflated just a tad at the mention of aliens, and a voice in the back of her head that was suspiciously similar to Alex’s told her to change the subject. “Well I definitely think NASA should be a top priority in government funding. Maybe I’ll write something about that in my next current events paper.”_ _

__“Oh yeah, right.” The spark of excitement in Lena’s eyes faded somewhat at the sudden turn in conversation. “Current events. We should probably get started on that.”_ _

__She reached over to pull her backpack up onto the bed, just as Kara grabbed her schoolwork from the desk and plopped down next to her, so close that they were nearly touching. The closeness sent a pleasant shiver up Lena’s spine. She wondered if she had chosen to sit so close on purpose, and the thought sent a thrill through her stomach._ _

__Kara cleared her throat awkwardly, before reaching past Lena to grab a pen from the bedside table. Usually, Kara avoided listening in to others’ heartbeats, but Lena’s had started beating so hard from the moment she’d sat down that Kara couldn’t resist the temptation of letting her arm brush her shirt, sending the other girl’s heartbeat wild. Her own was matching it, pounding in her ears at the contact. It didn’t help that Lena had showed up looking unfairly pretty, her dark hair pinned back to frame her face but otherwise falling freely around her shoulders, providing a stark contrast to her pale skin and green eyes._ _

__Kara snagged the pen and drew back, giving her friend a crooked grin. Lena seemed slightly flustered from the close contact, her cheeks coloring, before she cleared her throat quickly and reached over to pull her bag towards her. Kara looked away too, though her gaze lingered on the other girl’s outfit. Though Kara had the impression that Lena’s wardrobe largely consisted of ripped jeans, doc martens, and t-shirts proclaiming various rebellious slogans, she had apparently eschewed her normal look for something slightly dressier - a dark red blouse over simple, unripped, jeans, and paired with a stylish navy blue jacket, which she had already shed and placed neatly to the side._ _

__It was a good look on her, Kara thought. It was also the sort of thing one might wear to a date - not a study session. The implications of that thought made her mouth go dry._ _

__Lena waved a hand in front of Kara’s face, snapping her out of her speculations. “Hello, earth to Kara? You wanted to do current events right?”_ _

__She blinked, bringing her focus squarely back onto her friend, and then more reluctantly towards the task at hand. “Yeah - yes. Current events. I said I wanted to do something about space, right?”_ _

__Lena let out an uncharacteristic giggle. “I feel like you should be asking yourself that.”_ _

__“Right. Um, well, I feel like you should give me your opinion, since you’re the one helping me. Which, by the way, makes me feel like this whole relationship is sort of one sided.”_ _

__Lena frowned. “What do you mean?”_ _

__Kara gestured towards the papers that Lena spread out on the bed sheet, all  
of which seemed to pertain to Kara’s next current events paper. “You’re always tutoring me, which I definitely appreciate, but I never return the favor. Not that you need it! But, I mean, if you did, I could help you - but only in math and science. Not like history or anything, because obviously that’s where you’re helping me…”_ _

__She trailed off, and found herself fidgeting nervously with her glasses. She brought her hand down immediately, but then found she had nothing to do with it. Lena was watching her, an amused smile growing on her face._ _

__“Kara, you know I don’t mind tutoring you at all,” She said. “And besides, I’m actually getting top marks in calculus. I don’t need any help at the moment - not that I don’t appreciate the offer,” She added quickly._ _

__To her surprise, Kara smirked. “Are you sure about that?” She asked, the ghost of a challenge in her voice._ _

__Lena’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Are you insinuating that my grades are not as good as I say they are?” She demanded, her tone half-mocking._ _

__“Let me see.” Before Lena could move to stop her, Kara dove into her backpack, pulling out a folder labeled ‘calculus’. She flipped it open, pulling out the first page she saw, which happened to be a recently returned test._ _

__Lena made no move to grab it, but simply crossed her arms. “Go on. Read it,” She challenged. “I have nothing to hide.”_ _

__She was right. Kara flipped it over to the front page, where _100%_ was inked in big red letters. Her face fell for only a fraction of a second, before she pulled it into an expression of mocking disappointment. _ _

__“Hmm. Mmhm. Huh.” She flipped through the test, making various noises of disapproval, until Lena finally couldn’t take it anymore._ _

__“Stop!” She said, laughing, and reached for the test, snatching it out of her friend’s fingers. “There’s nothing wrong with it! I got a hundred percent.”_ _

__Kara made a dramatic show of shaking her head. “Mmm. But your methods are off. Very unwieldy.”_ _

__“What are you talking about?” Now it was Lena’s turn to flip through the test. “This is exactly how we learned it.”_ _

__Kara made another noise of disapproval and leaned over to point towards the first problem. Their fingers brushed together, and Lena could have sworn she felt her heart jump._ _

__Kara leaned into her shoulder to get a good view of the paper in her hand, and her finger traced the first problem. “You got it right, but you could have used a much simpler method. Want me to show you?”_ _

__Lena was finding it hard to form words with her friend’s breath tickling in her ear, so she just nodded. At her response, Kara took the paper gently from her hands and placed it against a book so as to write._ _

__Lena immediately missed the contact, but it was worth it to watch Kara work on the problem, the tip of her tongue sticking out between her lips as her glasses slid down her nose, concentration etched into her expression as the skritch-skratch of her pen filled the room._ _

__And then as she leaned over to see the work for herself, she forgot all about her pounding heart and sweaty palms, and instead focused entirely on the careful equations Kara was sketching out on the paper. She blinked and felt her jaw fall open in shock, watching as the pen in her friend’s hand sliced neatly through the complicated calculations, before at last delivering the final answer in neat, underlined print._ _

__“See?” Kara shoved the paper back towards her and looked up, a faint flush of success coloring her cheeks._ _

__Lena just looked at her. She was faintly aware that her mouth was still hanging open, and snapped it shut._ _

__“How did you do that?” She demanded. “That was…I’ve never seen any method like it. Can you teach it to me?”_ _

__“Of course!” A pleased grin spread slowly across Kara’s face at the praise, and she moved the paper so it sat between them, tapping her pen to the first equation. “It’s pretty simple actually, if you just…” She began to explain, moving her pen across the page to track each new step, as Lena followed along._ _

__She was right. The method was deceptively simple, efficiently cutting the number of steps required to solve the problem in half. Lena picked it up immediately, and marveled that the method had never occurred to her before. She looked up from the page, still dazed by the discovery, only to find Kara staring at her, eyes soft. As soon as Lena met her gaze she looked away, ducking her head, and went to push her glasses back into place, letting the pen fall from her grip._ _

__“You get it?” She asked, and gestured towards the problem. Lena nodded, still struggling to find the right words at the revelation._ _

__“Kara,” She said, awe evident in her voice. “That was - _amazing_. I’ve never seen that method before, never even heard of it! Where did you learn it? Or did you make it up yourself?”_ _

__Kara hesitated, and then shook her head. “I um, learned it from somebody,” She lied, and scrambled to come up with a convincing cover. Maybe a little bit of the truth would work. “My dad was a scientist, and he was sort of a genius. He used to think up all kinds of stuff like this. It was sort of his hobby. He loved finding ways to make things easier, more efficient.”_ _

__Lena shook her head, impressed. “I can’t believe I haven’t heard of any of his work. He must have been a pioneer in his field.”_ _

__“Sort of.” Kara shrugged, a pained look flashing across her face. “But he was never in it to be famous. He just liked solving problems. Also him and my mom died kind of young, so I guess he never got the chance. That’s when I moved in with the Danvers.”_ _

__Lena frowned at this new piece of information. “Alex isn’t your birth sister?”_ _

__“Nope! I was adopted when I was thirteen.” Kara cracked a slightly mischievous grin. “But she’s annoying enough to be.”_ _

__“Me too!” Lena burst out, unable to contain the warmth that was currently swelling in her chest at the revelation. She had never met another adopted kid her age, at least not in her mother’s approved circles - it was rather frowned upon, for some reason. Adopting a child was considered to be the kind of thing a celebrity might do, not a business tycoon. “I mean, I was adopted when I was four. I don’t really remember my real parents though.”_ _

__She stopped suddenly, a hint embarrassment running through her. She didn’t often share that information with others - and certainly not girls she’d only met a couple months before, no matter how hard she was crushing. But rather than balking, Kara’s face lit up in an excited grin that matched her own._ _

__“We really are pretty similar, aren’t we?” She asked, and then her gaze turned thoughtful as she focused on Lena, a certain intensity settling in her blue eyes. “You know, we’ve known each other since the start of the school year, but I don’t really know a ton about you.”_ _

__“Um...uh,” Lena stuttered, the honest statement pulling her up short. She stalled, grasping for a response. “Well, I don’t really know that much about you either,” She countered._ _

__The truth was, she’d made certain that nobody at school knew anything about her. When she’d first offered to tutor Kara, she’d done it more out of a sense of sympathy than anything else, and hadn’t planned on ever letting the girl know who exactly she was, just as she’d hidden the truth from the rest of her classmates._ _

__However, she also hadn’t planned on developing feelings. That had thrown quite a large wrench in her plans._ _

__Kara laughed at her response. “Okay, that’s fair,” She said. “Maybe it’s because we spend all of our time on my history and current events classes.”_ _

__“What else do you recommend? Calculus?” Lena answered dryly. “Though to be honest, if I’d know you were such a genius, I would have asked for help sooner.”_ _

__Kara blushed. “I’m not a genius,” She mumbled, and then cleared her throat. “I mean, maybe we should do stuff besides studying.”_ _

__“Oh, like what?” Lena struggled to keep her voice casual, even as her heart began to ricochet against her ribcage, the sound so loud in her own ears that she was certain Kara could hear it._ _

__“Oh, I don’t know,” Kara responded, and let herself drop onto her stomach, using one hand to prop her head up, while the other snaked out to touch Lena’s, before stopping just short. The movement brought her dangerously close to Lena’s own form, who was stretched out, half lying down, with her back resting against the backboard. “Like hang out and not study. Go to the movies or something. Or just go out.”_ _

__“I think that sounds...fun.” She was finding it hard to concentrate on Kara’s words, seeing as their faces were less than a foot apart, so close that she could see the lighter flecks of blue in her friend’s eyes. They seemed to be caught in Lena’s own gaze, studying her intensely as she waited for - something. An answer? Permission? Permission for what? Lena’s heart was fluttering, and she was finding it increasingly hard to think straight._ _

__“Or we could just stay in,” She continued, her eyes roaming thoughtlessly over Kara’s face, settling for a moment on her lips, before flickering back up to meet her gaze. “I’m not a fan of going out that much anyway.”_ _

__Kara laughed, and it was breathy, nervous. Her hand inched closer to Lena’s, almost unconsciously. “That’s what we’re doing right now, though.”_ _

__“I guess it is.” Their hands brushed, and as Kara glanced down, almost surprised at the contact, Lena took the opportunity to reach out and tangle her other hand in blonde hair, pulling Kara closer until she could feel hot breath fluttering on her cheek, only for a moment, before Kara’s lips found hers. The other girl squeaked in surprise before sighing into the kiss, her body melting into Lena’s. Lena took this as encouragement to pull her closer, knocking her glasses sideways. Kara responded by pressing her body closer, tangling their limbs together. Her legs hooked around Lena’s while one hand sunk into silky dark locks, the other finding its way to the small of her back. Heavy seconds ticked by as they kissed, until at last lack of oxygen forced them to break apart._ _

__Kara thumped back into the bed sheets as Lena sagged against the backboard, her thoughts spinning dizzily. She hadn’t actually expected herself to make the first move, except that she had - and she didn’t regret it. Especially now that Kara was looking at her, eyes wide, as one hand moved up absentmindedly to touch her lips._ _

__“Wow,” She breathed, her eyes still locked on Lena’s. “I didn’t expect that to happen.”_ _

__Lena propped herself up into a sitting position, trying to reconcile her thoughts into something coherent. “Are you glad it did?” She managed at last._ _

__Kara’s eyebrows shot upwards at the question. “What? Yes - of course!” She gestured uselessly at nothing in particular as she scrambled for words. “I just, wasn’t sure that you would want -“_ _

__“Oh no, I definitely do,” Lena said quickly, and watched as Kara’s shoulders sunk in relief. “I just wasn’t sure if you were thinking the same thing.”_ _

__At this Kara broke into a crooked grin, the smile matching the tilt of her glasses, which hung crazily, practically dangling off her face. “I guess we know each other better than we think, huh?”_ _

__Lena’s smile faltered momentarily at the words. It was only for an instant, but not before Kara caught the movement, and her brow crinkled in worry._ _

__“Unless...it wasn’t what you wanted?” She asked, her voice carefully neutral, but Lena caught the hint of dread in her voice and winced._ _

__“No, no! Kara, that’s not it at all. It’s just -“ She closed her eyes, trying to summon the courage to say the next words. “I guess I haven’t been entirely honest with you about something. About my family.”_ _

__“You haven’t told me anything about your family,” Kara pointed out, and when Lena opened her eyes she saw that some of the tension had left her face, to be replaced by open confusion._ _

__“I know, but that’s for a reason,” Lena answered, watching her face carefully. Kara looked confused, uncertain - but not guarded. She was listening intently, her brow still wrinkled, and her glasses still hanging crookedly off to the side, forgotten._ _

__Lena sighed, drawing in a deep breath, and then took the plunge, pulling every word out of her throat with the utmost reluctance. “I feel like you should know something about me that I don’t really tell a lot of people. My full name is Lena Luthor. My family owns LuthorCorp, and my brother is Lex Luthor, the crazy xenophobe who tried to blow up Superman.”_ _

__Several seconds passed before she could force herself to look up and see the look on Kara’s face. She’d dealt with many different reactions in the years since Lex’s crime, and she wondered what emotion she would see splayed out on Kara’s face. Anger? Disgust? Revulsion? She didn’t know if she could handle any of them. But when she finally forced herself to look up and meet Kara’s gaze, she found none of those._ _

__What she found was worse._ _

__It was fear._ _

__Kara stared at her, her mouth hanging slightly open and her face drained of color. Her gaze traveled up and down Lena’s face, and she could almost see the pieces clicking into place. _Her name’s Lena Luthor, she wants to work in a technology company, studies engineering_ \- and with each passing second, her face grew paler, draining of color._ _

__Lena’s heart dropped with a quiet thud. Her blood roared in her ears. Of all the reactions she had gotten over the years, the pure unbridled fear playing across Kara’s face had to be, without a doubt, the worst._ _

__Kara must have seen the look of betrayal on Lena’s face, because she immediately tried to hide her reaction, her jaw snapping shut as she hastily rearranged her expression to hide the emotions shifting across her face. But it was too late. Lena had seen her immediate reaction, and she sat frozen, a wave of utter disappointment washing over her. Something closed off inside of her, and it was a few seconds before she managed to find her voice again._ _

__“Right. I think..” Her voice came out cold, and suddenly the room felt too hot, too close, and Lena couldn’t breathe. She had to escape. “I think I should go.”_ _

__“Huh? Go?” As Lena began to move mechanically, gathering up her books and papers, Kara’s expression turned to confusion, and then desperation. “What - no! Lena, I didn’t mean anything by it, I was just surprised, please don’t leave -“_ _

__“Kara, please,” Lena felt the earlier wave of betrayal melt into hot anger, even as tears threatened to prick at her eyelids. She began to move faster, shoving her things into her bag. “I don’t want to talk about it. I understand.”_ _

__“No, you don’t!” Kara had scrambled to her feet, her hands held out in front of her as if she could physically stop Lena from leaving. “It’s got nothing to do with you at all, I promise - !”_ _

__“Oh, really?” Something snapped in Lena as she grabbed her coat from the bed, and she whirled around to face Kara, her eyes blazing. “You think I don’t get enough reactions like that? You think I don’t agree with them? Just - stop, Kara. I was hoping you would be accepting, but I guess I was wrong.”_ _

__With those last bitter words she pushed past Kara and out of the room, leaving her friend standing frozen for a moment, before she turned around to chase after her down the hallway._ _

__“Wait, Lena! I am accepting! I don’t care, it’s just -“ Just what? How could she explain that her cousin had warned her off the Luthors since her arrival on earth, how she had feared them ever since she had learned what xenophobia meant, how she had felt buried under the crushing weight of her own terror at Superman’s near miss with Lex Luthor? How his brush with the Luthors had been the closest he’d ever come to death - the closest he’d come to leaving Kara really, truly, alone?_ _

__But she couldn’t find the words, or couldn’t make herself say them, and so she just ran helplessly after Lena, pleading meaningless reassurances. She pulled up short by the doorway, reaching out to Lena, who refused to look at her as she pulled on her coat._ _

__“Please, Lena,” Kara said, hovering desperately a few feet away. “It’s already dark out! At least wait until Alex comes home, and she can drive you, so you don’t have to walk alone.”_ _

__“I’ll be fine, thank you,” Lena responded curtly, and couldn’t help but wince at how eerily similar she sounded to her mother. She forced her voice to soften, and looked up to meet Kara’s anxious gaze. “Listen, Kara, I’m sorry, but I think I need some space right now - and by your reaction, I think you need some too. So let’s just drop it, okay? Give me some time to think.”_ _

__The anxiety on Kara’s face didn’t lessen. “For how long?”_ _

__Lena gave her a hard, steady, look. “I don’t know. Just let me call you, okay?”_ _

__Kara opened her mouth to argue the point, and then thought better of it. Instead she said, “Okay, fine, but please don’t go out alone. It’s not safe at night.”_ _

__“I can take care of myself,” Lena said firmly, and before she could change her mind she turned and wrenched the door open, stepping outside before Kara could stop her. Her friend just stood in the doorway, and as Lena turned and closed the door, the last thing she saw was the falling disappointment on Kara’s face._ _

__The minute she heard the lock click shut Kara let out a defeated groan, and sagged against the door. The events of the last few minutes began to run over and over again in her mind, and she wondered how it had gone so wrong._ _

__The answer, of course, lay with her. It was her instant, immediate reaction that had betrayed Lena and possibly ruined the budding connection between them. She wished she had said something different, wished she could have found better words to explain her reaction - but how could she? The only way Kara could think to explain her sudden fear would be to tell her the truth - and of course, that was impossible._ _

__Kara groaned again, and slid down the length of the door, hitting the ground with a thump. This was about a thousand times worse than her last relationship in senior year - mainly because she actually really, really liked Lena, no matter what her last name was._ _

__And to make matters worse, despite Kara’s desperate pleading, Lena had refused to wait for Alex to take her home. Instead she’d simply disappeared alone into the night, nevermind the violent crimes that had been occurring nightly over the past few weeks. True, she was almost certainly just going to the bus stop, but the nearest stop was several blocks away. Kara didn’t doubt Lena’s assurances that she could take care of herself, but what human wouldn’t be helpless against the end of a gun barrel?_ _

__Well, maybe she wasn’t completely helpless. Kara leaned her head back against the door’s wood paneling, and let her hearing stretch out across the city, searching, searching…_ _

__There! Only a block away, the familiar sound of Lena’s heartbeat radiated in Kara’s ears, and she almost smiled, before remembering just why she was sitting in her apartment alone, rather than walking Lena to the bus stop in person. All she could do was listen, anxiously, until Lena arrived home safe._ _

__Kara closed her eyes, letting the sounds of the city wash over her, though her focus was zeroed in on one familiar heartbeat and a steady set of footsteps. She followed the sound down several city blocks, beginning to relax only when the footsteps stopped at where Kara knew the bus stop to be. Some of the tension left her body, and she began to slowly draw back her hearing, though her focus lingered on Lena’s heartbeat._ _

__She would wait until the bus came. Just to make sure she was safe. Just to make sure nothing would happen to her. From the sound of it, the bus was a good twenty minutes away, and Kara settled against the door, frowning at the thought of Lena waiting all by herself, alone in the dark. The thought stung, distracting her enough that at first she almost didn’t catch the pair of footsteps approaching from an adjacent alleyway._ _

__But then she did and her frown deepened, a wrinkle appearing in her brow. She stretched her hearing outwards again, searching for the voices belonging to the footsteps, which had picked up their pace, and were rapidly closing in on the bus stop._ _

__Finally she managed to pluck their voices from the din of the city, and the rest of the noise began to drown away as their voices began to strengthen, floating clear of the hubbub._ _

__“Look, Paul, this one’s all alone -“_ _

__“I don’t know - what if the bus comes?”_ _

__“It’s our bus, dummy, we’ve got twenty minutes. It’ll take ten to finish the job -“_ _

__“She’s just a student -“_ _

__“Yeah, a rich one, just look at that coat -“_ _

__Kara’s eyes snapped open._ _

__She launched herself to her feet, her heart began pounding wildly in her chest. _Lena’s in danger_. The men’s voices began fading back into the noise of the city, as her focus dissolved into panic._ _

__“Oh no,” She said out loud, running a frenzied hand through her hair. “Oh no no no no no no -“_ _

__She had to do something. She couldn’t. She had to. The thoughts swirled indecisively around her head, growing more and more panicky with every passing second. Lena was in danger, she had to help her -_ _

__She lurched to the direction of her room, a half-formed plan filling her head, and then stopped. She couldn’t go out again - she had promised Alex -_ _

___Oh Rao, to hell with Alex!_ At that thought her resolve formed in an instant, pushing her towards her room at nearly invisible speed. She staggered to a halt in front of her dresser, and forced herself take a deep, steadying, breath - _control, you need to be in control_ \- before wrenching open the bottom drawer, where a mostly-patched up blue sweatshirt lay neatly folded. She yanked it out, along with the ski mask and glasses - _Lena’s glasses_ \- and in seconds found herself fully dressed, the old worn costume as comfortable as a second skin._ _

__Just before she left, she risked a glance at her reflection in the mirror. Her familiar reflection had vanished, to be replaced by an unrecognizable figure; the glasses, ski mask, and hoodie covering every inch of her face and hair. She wouldn’t be identified. She hoped._ _

__Then, before she could think too hard about what she was doing, Kara found herself fumbling at the window latch, yanking it open, and her last thought as she tumbled into the night sky was: _Alex is definitely going to kill me this time.__ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I wasn’t planning on having them kiss quite yet, but then I saw the chance and - yeah. I do really love writing romantic moments between Lena and Kara, even if it had to end like that. Also I didn’t expect Lena to take the lead at all, but at the same time, I’m not too surprised. Kara talks a big talk, but she honestly has no idea what to do.


	11. The return of the vigilante

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So now we are back to a more normal chapter length! This one is basically all action, and then next chapter I plan to deal a little more with the fallout. So, enjoy!

Lena scowled against the cold night air, pulling her coat tightly around her as she hurried through the dark streets. Her boots struck the pavement forcefully with each step, sending loud echoes rebounding through the empty streets. Indignant satisfaction thrummed through her at the noise. It kept the lump in her throat from rising, even as stubborn tears pricked at her eyes.

She’d be damned if she was going to let herself cry. She was a Luthor, after all.

And Luthors didn’t cry.

As she walked, Lena couldn’t but play the events involuntarily over and over again in her head, starting with her confession, and ending with the slammed door in Kara’s face. The memory of her friend’s devastated expression sent Lena’s heart twisting, and she winced. Now, as the anger began to fade, her reaction started to look less and less justified, and more overdramatic and childish. She bit the inside of her cheek, and scowled.

She wanted to be mad. She _was_ mad - and she had a right to be, didn’t she? After all, Kara’s reaction had betrayed so much of what Lena had hoped for - naively, perhaps, but still. True, it hadn’t been the disgust or revulsion she’d come to expect upon sharing her family name, but that didn’t make her feel any better - not when the image of Kara’s pale, terrified expression kept floating across her mind.

Somehow, the fear made it worse.

 _You can’t blame her though,_ a small voice whispered at the back of Lena’s head, and her scowl deepened. Of course Kara’s fear made sense, in an abstract way. Lex’s actions had very nearly caused the death of hundreds, if not thousands of people, and whether Lena wanted to be or not, she was connected to that legacy. 

Still, the grudging logic of Kara’s reaction did nothing to soothe the bitter disappointment that formed a lump at the back of Lena’s throat, nor did it quell the feeling of betrayal that had rose up from the moment she’d seen Kara’s reaction, and clung to her ever since, settling like acid in her stomach.

She had just...hoped that Kara would be different. That she’d have understood, or at least would have tried to, instead of rejecting Lena outright. 

_But you didn’t really give her a chance, did you?_ The obstinate voice rose again, unbidden, at the back of Lena’s head. She ducked her head guiltily at the thought, her boots scuffing the pavement. Okay, maybe she had sort of run out on Kara, without giving her a chance to explain. And it wasn’t like Kara hadn’t begged - she certainly had - except that Lena had been so helplessly _angry_ in that moment, that she didn’t think she could have listened if she’d tried.

The thoughts spun endlessly through her head, without solution, as her feet carried her automatically towards the bus station. By the time she finally arrived, the righteous fury burning in her belly had long since begun to fade, cooling into embers, before finally flickering out. 

Instead, as she stood next to the faded bus sign, Lena found herself lapsing into regret. She’d have to make amends with Kara. She’d call her tomorrow - or should she wait until the day after? What was the protocol for that sort of thing, anyway? Lena couldn’t recall if she’d ever been stuck in a sticky situation like her current one; none of her previous relationships had ever gone deep enough to devolve into a fight.

If that was even what she could call her and Kara’s...thing.

So occupied was she by the doubts and questions circling around her head that she paid no mind to the sound of distant voices down the street, voices that grew louder with each passing second. Only when the two men arrived at the bus stop did her gaze flicker towards them for an instant, roaming curiously over their bulky winter clothing and large backpacks, until one of them caught her eye and raised his eyebrow questioningly. She dropped her gaze in embarrassment, and their murmured discussions faded away, lapsing into silence.

A minute passed, and Lena began to drift back to the worries that had preoccupied her before the strangers’ arrival. She would have to apologize to Kara, that much was certain. She would give her a chance to explain, without getting angry, and see where they could go from there.

However, that thought opened up a whole new rabbit hole, one that involved talks of relationships and dates and titles - all things that made Lena’s stomach twist anxiously. She was pretty sure that she knew what she wanted, but did Kara want the same? The fear that Lena had seen in Kara’s eyes at the mention of her last name made her wonder if the girl wouldn’t reconsider. The thought of rejection gnawed at her anxiously, and Lena began to fiddle preoccupiedly with her coat sleeve.

“Hey.” Lena startled at the voice that sounded closely in her ear and whipped around, causing its owner to take a slight step back.

“Sorry!” The taller of the two men raised his hands in apology, a line of worry wrinkling his brow. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“No, um - it’s fine.” Lena’s gaze traveled over the man before glancing at his partner, who caught her expression and rolled his eyes at his buddy’s antics. Despite their overly heavy winter clothing and large backpacks - maybe they were travelers? - they seemed normal enough. Neither one was more than a few years older than her, though the one who had rolled his eyes sported an impressively full beard. All in all, they didn’t seem like a threat, and she forced herself to relax a little. “I just didn’t hear you come up behind me. Did you want something?”

“Uh, yeah actually,” The man who had approached her gave a sheepish smile, and stuck his hands into his coat pockets. “Me and my friend aren’t from this city, and neither of us have the app for the bus schedule. We gotta check a line that goes to the terminal. Is there a chance you have it?”

“Of course,” Lena said, and attempted a friendly smile, more in order to quell how foolish she felt rather than anything else. Of course they just wanted some help with the bus line. Kara’s desperate warnings about the city’s nighttime criminal activities must have gotten to her. 

The man sagged visibly in relief, and glanced back at his partner. Something passed between them, and she could have sworn she saw the second, bearded man give a slight nod. Lena felt a spark of unease run through her as she reached into her coat pocket, groping for her phone.

As she pulled it out and let her fingerprint unlock the phone, she snuck another glance at the two men. Neither had moved, but they stood watching her expectantly. One shifted his weight, and glanced surreptitiously at his watch.

Lena’s eyes lingered on them for another moment, but as she swiped through her phone to pull up the app, she couldn’t prevent her gaze from drifting downwards towards the screen. She opened the app, and her finger hesitated over the search bar.

“What line did you guys -“ There was a rustle of quick movement, and Lena whipped her head upwards, only to find herself staring down the barrel of a gun.

The man’s shy smile had vanished. In its place stood a wolfish grin, teeth bared as he looked her up and down. 

“That’s a pretty expensive coat you got there,” He growled, eyes glittering maliciously. “How much money you got to afford something like that?”

It felt like all of the air had been sucked out of Lena’s lungs. Cold fear trickled down her spine as she stood frozen, unable to tear her gaze away from the weapon staring her down, mere inches from her face. The dull metal of the gun barrel glinted threateningly under the streetlights. 

A sudden movement from the second man made her shift her gaze, and her heart sank as she realized that he too was holding a weapon - but his looked like none that she had ever seen before. It was strangely shaped, the metal burnished, and inlaid with softly flashing lights. Charge danced along the barrel, and as she watched, the man brushed his thumb against the control panel.

“You don’t want me to use this,” He said coolly, smug confidence filling his voice. The look on his face was that of somebody who knew he was completely and utterly in control of the situation. “This thing’ll fry you to a crisp and still leave you breathing - not that you’ll be able to talk, with the agonizing pain and all.”

“That’s why you should follow us,” The first man said, gesturing with his weapon. Lena’s gaze flickered back to him, and then towards the gun pointing in her face. As she stared cross eyed down the barrel, her mind racing with fear, she suddenly realized that the gun leveled at her head wasn’t a handgun like she’d assumed. While the second man’s weapon was bulky and obviously not of human design, the gun currently jammed into her face looked more subtle - more human. Its shape was that of a heavy handgun, but it sported a decidedly unusual array of buttons near the grip, and the muzzle crackled with blue electricity.

Alien weapons. The men had alien weapons. Lena could feel the fear creeping up her throat, threatening to choke her. 

“That’s right,” The first man said at the spark of understanding in her eyes. “We got our hands on some cool toys here. You wanna know what mine does?” His grin stretched terrifyingly wide. “Mine won’t kill you, but it’ll zap everything out of you - your whole brain, kaput! Just like that.”

He snapped his fingers for emphasis, and Lena was jolted by a sudden spark of recognition at his description. That design sounded familiar - but where could she have heard of it before? Her eyes traveled down the length of the weapon, taking it in fully for the first time, and she was suddenly struck by the unshakable feeling that she had seen it before.

But where?

At her lack of a verbal response, the man grew impatient, and moved the gun downwards, jamming it violently into her stomach. Air flew out of her lungs, and Lena gasped with pain, her knees buckling.

“C’mon,” He grunted, and gestured towards the gap between two buildings. “We got ten minutes before the bus comes, so you’re gonna give us what we want.”

Tears of pain sprouted in Lena’s eyes. “What do you want?” She asked, gasping for breath. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been hit really hard, and the impact lingered painfully. “I don’t have anything on me.”

“We’ll start with your wallet,” The second man volunteered, and took a step forward, his eyes roaming suggestively over her figure. “And then I guess we’ll go from there.”

A lump of disgust rose in Lena’s stomach as she absorbed the implications of the man’s statement, along with a fresh wave of dread. These men were serious, she realized - utterly, deadly serious. She was outnumbered and completely outmatched, and the only pitiful defense she had was her voice - not that there was anybody around to hear her - and the pepper spray tucked uselessly in the side pocket of her bag. She would never reach it in time.

“Scream and we’ll kill you right now,” The closer man tossed out casually. “You’re not the first one who’s tried it, honey.”

“Don’t call me honey,” Lena snarled, a spark of defiance returning to her. “I’ll give you my wallet, and my phone, or whatever, and then, you can _leave. Me. Alone.”_

The man laughed, unswayed by her insolent tone. “Little presumptuous of you to be making demands, isn’t it?” He pressed the gun closer, the cold metal jabbing into her stomach.

“After all, we don’t need your brain to do what we want to you.” Lena felt the crackling charge of the weapon as it began to radiate from the barrel, strands of energy brushing dangerously over her skin. The man had gotten close enough that his breath, hot and unpleasant, began to waft over her face. He guffawed. “We might miss our bus though.”

Lena wanted to squeeze her eyes shut, but she refused to let him see her give up. Instead she kept his gaze, glaring, even as her mind raced to come up with a solution - except there wasn’t one. The two men had the upper hand, and they knew it, as did Lena. She could fight back, but that would probably lead to her immediate death - or some kind of vegetative state, judging by their gleeful descriptions of the weapons.

The second man shifted his weight, his expression drawing into one of impatience. “Dude, enough with the threats. I’m down with whatever you wanna do, but let’s get her somewhere less open.”

“Right.” The man didn’t take his eyes off Lena, but the pressure of the weapon against her stomach lessened, as he drew it back a few inches. “Alright, cutie, let’s get you out of -“

He never finished his statement. His partner’s eyes jerked up suddenly towards something above their heads, and Lena barely had time to glance up before whatever that something was came barreling over their heads, and straight into the man holding a gun to Lena’s chest.

Lena stumbled backwards, away from the man with the gun, who forgot about her completely as he was yanked backwards by the neck, his body slamming into the wall with a resounding crack. His eyes rolled back into his head and a groan escaped from his throat, as he sagged against the wall. He looked as if he were only seconds away from crumpling to the ground.

Only he didn’t, because a figure in a blue hoodie was propping him up by the neck.

Lena recognized the outfit immediately.

It was the vigilante.

“If you or your partner try anything, you’re dead.” Her voice, clearly female, came out low and deadly calm, and Lena felt a thrill at the barely concealed anger that ran through those words. There was something familiar about the tone, something that was nagging at the back of her head, just like that weapon - 

The weapon! Her eyes fell to the sidewalk, where the gun lay forgotten, having apparently slipped from the man’s grip in the struggle. She glanced up at the second man, whose eyes were glued to his partner’s plight, staring slack-jawed as he watched him struggle weakly in the vigilante’s grip.

Lena dove before she could think, scooping the weapon up from the floor, and prayed it wouldn’t go off. It didn’t, and she pointed it at the other man, who let out a curse and brought his own weapon up towards her.

“You don’t want to use that, girlie,” He drawled, though his forced nonchalance was betrayed by the glint of panic in his eyes. “You’ll probably end up hurting yourself.”

“Wanna test me?” She asked mockingly, her gaze flickering towards the display of buttons on the grip. A distant memory was forming of where she’d seen the weapon before, and if she was right, then she had an idea of how to use it - though her guess brought with it worrying implications about the weapon’s origin. Implications that she would have to consider later.

“Hey - stop!” The vigilante whirled around, her voice rising ever so slightly. The man she’d disarmed stumbled as she released her grip, but only for a moment, before she delivered a jab to his head that sent him crumpling instantly towards the ground. He didn’t rise again. “Neither of you shoot.”

“You think you can stop me?” The second man spat, his eyes locked on the weapon grasped shakily in Lena’s hand. She raised the gun slightly in response and cocked her head, though her hands were clammy with trepidation. She wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to get a shot off before the man could, but she didn’t plan on going down without a fight.

“I think we can end this right now,” The vigilante said, her voice cautious but steady. “I think you can both put the weapons down, and you -” She gestured towards the man aiming his weapon at Lena “- Your best option is to wait for the police to get here, unless you wanna end up like your buddy over there.” 

She nodded her head towards the man lying sprawled on the ground, who, as if on queue, let out a groan and stirred faintly. His partner’s eyes widened, and he glanced up at the vigilante, for the first time seeming to really look at her. The barrel of the weapon gripped tightly in his hands began to drift downwards, away from Lena, and for a split second she thought that he was going to give it up.

And then his eyes narrowed and his face twisted into a snarl. 

“Hell, you’re just a girl,” He growled, and swung the weapon back up again, his finger squeezing the trigger. Lena had just enough time to hit one of the buttons on her own weapon - she prayed it would do what she thought it did - before she ducked, though she knew at that distance she had no chance of avoiding the beam currently arching towards her. She squeezed her eyes shut, and hoped it would be quick.

But the blast never made it. Just as the air around her began to crackle dangerously, raising the hairs on the back of her head, a solid blue mass pushed her out of the way and sent Lena stumbling backwards. She tumbled to the sidewalk and fell, before glancing up dazedly just in time to see the blast make contact.

Though Lena didn’t know exactly what the weapon was meant to do, even she could see immediately that it didn’t have the intended impact. The beam hit the chest of the vigilante, but didn’t blast her into smithereens like Lena had expected. Instead, it ricocheted off the vigilante’s chest and shattered into a thousand pieces, sending her sprawling. The ricochets scattered across the sidewalk, one beam slicing neatly through the worn bus sign as another glanced off of Lena’s hand. She jerked it back with a cry of pain, and stared, eyes wide, as her skin immediately began to blister. The burn spread as she watched, angry red welts popping up over the back of her hand.

 _Definitely a second degree burn, at least,_ she thought, grimacing as she cradled the injury. She began to wonder dazedly just what treatment she might need to apply, when a moan off to the side jerked her attention away from the throbbing pain in her hand. She cast her gaze to the patch of sidewalk next to her, and drew in a sharp breath at the body lying prone on the pavement, releasing it only when the vigilante let out another groan. 

The vigilante began to stir, and then slowly drew up into a sitting position, wincing as she rubbed the back of her head.

“That _hurt, _” She said. Her tone was almost whining, and Lena was hit immediately with a powerful sense of deja vu.__

__She knew that voice. Where did she know that voice?_ _

__“Are you okay?” She asked the masked figure, who turned around immediately at the sound of her voice. Though she couldn’t see her face, Lena could almost feel the accusatory glare being leveled in her direction._ _

__“I told you not to shoot!” She said, and Lena bristled reproachfully._ _

__“Um, did you not see that he shot first?” She shot back, and raised her hand to gesture towards the man lying motionless only a few feet away, forgetting momentarily her injury. Pain lanced through the sensitive area at the sudden movement, and she hissed._ _

__In seconds the vigilante was by her side, and before she could react, had taken Lena’s hand gingerly in her own. Her masked face was only inches away._ _

__“You’re hurt,” She breathed. Her hands were incredibly gentle as they moved over the injury, in contrast to the impossible strength that the woman had displayed only minutes before. Their bodies were so close that Lena could feel the heat radiating from the woman, and for some inexplicable reason, she began to blush. She pulled her hand back reluctantly, and looked up instead into the masked face so close to her own, for the first time fully examining the image of the woman that saved her._ _

__Her first thought was that the vigilante’s costume was...something. It looked like the kind of outfit one might throw together from spare winter clothes found in their closet, and Lena had the sneaking suspicion that that was exactly what it was. She squinted at the woman’s face, trying to see past the grey ski mask and sunglasses. The vigilante immediately drew backwards under her intense gaze, looking away. Lena frowned._ _

__There was something strongly familiar about the way she talked, the way she moved, and she could almost put her finger on it, if only her head would stop spinning from the pain in her hand and the impact of her fall._ _

__“Who _are_ you?” She asked, and though she couldn’t see the woman’s eyes, she could see her startle at the question. “Why did you save me?”_ _

__“Why did I save you?” The question seemed to take her off guard, but she recovered in an instant, and scoffed. “Why wouldn’t I save you? Did you want to take these two guys on alone?”_ _

__“Of course not,” Lena said quickly, and then added, “Thank you. Really, you saved my life. But who _are_ you? And how did you know I was in trouble? And how did you not get hurt - oh my god, you threw yourself in front of some kind of alien weapon to save me!”_ _

__“Um…” The vigilante seemed thrown by the torrent of questions. “I can’t answer any of that.”_ _

__“Why not?” Lena stared at her, trying to make sense of the events that had just occurred. Her head was starting to spin even more dizzily than before, this time with dozens of insistent questions. Her hand was absolutely throbbing with pain, and a dull ache was staring to make its way through her skull, starting at the base of her neck and radiating into her temples. She wondered vaguely how she would be able to hide her injured hand from her mother. “Are you some kind of superhero? Like Superman? Like a...Supergirl, or something?”_ _

__“Huh?” The vigilante gaped at her, and Lena could almost see the look of disgust behind her grey mask. “Supergirl? What kind of a name is that?”_ _

__“If that’s not your name, then what is it?” She demanded, and the woman spluttered. “I - um -”_ _

__She didn’t respond, and Lena’s patience began to fail her as she waited for an answer. She began to move, struggling to pull herself into a standing position. In an instant the vigilante was on her feet, and reached out with a steady hand to pull Lena smoothly upright, as if she weighed no more than a feather. She stumbled before finding her balance, and her eyes snagged on a slight movement off to the side. She glanced over, and the vigilante followed her gaze towards the sight of her attackers, both lying motionless on the sidewalk. For a hysterical beat Lena thought that they were dead, but as she watched, the second man - whom she had apparently managed to hit with his partner’s weapon - began to move, his hand twitching even as his eyes remained closed._ _

__“You really did a number on him,” The vigilante commented, and even without looking at her, Lena could sense the accusation in her tone._ _

__“I did a number on him?” She asked indignantly, and pointed to the other man, who looked to be completely unconscious, a trickle of blood running down his forehead. “Look at that guy! You could have killed him.”_ _

__The vigilante’s head jerked back towards Lena. She refused to turn and face her, but could feel the woman’s gaze burning into her all the same._ _

__“I wouldn’t have killed him,” She murmured quietly, and then, in a slightly louder voice, added, “Also, I didn’t have a lot of options, seeing as he was about two seconds away from shooting you.”_ _

__“That’s a fair point,” Lena conceded with a dip of her head. The motion sent a wave of dizziness through her, and she resolved to keep her responses strictly verbal. “Okay, Supergirl, so what do we do now?”_ _

__“That’s _not_ my name!” The vigilante said, and she spun to face Lena, putting her hands on her hips. Lena supposed that the pose was meant to be intimidating, but there was something about the sunglasses, coupled with the indignant tone, that completely ruined the effect. Perhaps it was the hysteria slowly building in her chest, but Lena simply stared at her, and blinked, before bursting into laughter. _ _

__The vigilante drew back in surprise, and then cocked her head and crossed her arms, waiting for Lena to stop. With each passing moment, as the laughter continued, her stance grew more and more impatient, until finally she let out an irritated huff._ _

__“Are you done laughing?” She asked at last, annoyance radiating through her tone. “Or can I please deal with these two dummies?” She gestured towards the unconscious criminals._ _

__“By all means, Supergirl,” Lena choked out, and then forced herself to stop at the woman’s exasperated sigh, swallowing the laughter that was bubbling up in her throat. “I’m sorry, I guess I’m just having some trouble dealing with all of this.”_ _

__“Oh - um, that’s okay,” The vigilante replied, and the annoyance faded from her tone. She reached out hesitantly, as if to cup Lena’s hand in hers, and then seemed to think better of it, and let her arm dangle awkwardly. Lena caught the movement and raised her eyebrows questioningly. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought that the vigilante recognized her, as someone more than just a random person to be rescued. Did she knew she was a Luthor? Perhaps she had seen her face in some news article, and wanted to gain favor by saving the youngest Luthor heir. That would explain the vigilante’s sudden appearance after weeks of absence from the newspapers._ _

__The vigilante, however, was not looking at her. She had crossed over to where the unconscious criminals lay and knelt to examine them, along with their fallen weapons. Lena stood and watched her awkwardly, unsure of what to do. Was this her chance to leave? Perhaps she should go while the vigilante was preoccupied, and get back home before her mother went into a conniption._ _

__However, the curiosity burning in her stomach rebelled at the thought. And anyway, Lena realized, the bus was still nowhere in sight. A quick glance at her watch told her it was due to arrive any minute, and she wondered how the entire attack, and subsequent rescue, had managed to occur in less than twenty minutes._ _

__“I think they’re both going to be fine,” The vigilante spoke up, jolting Lena out of her thoughts. She regarded her cautiously, trying to think how she could phrase the questions that were nagging at her._ _

__“How do you know?” She blurted out when nothing came to mind, and the vigilante glanced towards her._ _

__“They’re both breathing,” She said with a shrug, and stood up from her kneeling position, brushing the dirt off her jeans. “Though I’ll be honest, I have no idea what you fired at that guy.”_ _

__“I think I do,” Lena said, and before the vigilante could protest, she knelt gingerly to pluck the smaller gun up from the ground._ _

__“You shouldn’t touch that -” The vigilante said warily, but it was too late, for Lena had already returned to a standing position with the gun balanced carefully in her uninjured hand. She offered it out for the vigilante to examine, who stared at her for a beat, before letting out a sigh, and leaned in to get a closer look._ _

__“The man didn’t exactly use scientific terms, but from the gist of what he told me, I think this gun is meant to remove the mind of its victim.” Lena said, and shuddered as she recalled the man’s threats, and how close she’d come to becoming another victim. “Or at the very least, to remove their memory. Do you see the buttons here?”_ _

__She tilted the gun so that the grip was in clear view, where a panel of buttons labeled one through ten were visible. “When I picked it up, it was on the highest setting, so I put it on the lowest, and, um, hoped for the best.”_ _

__She neglected to mention the sense of familiarity that the gun’s design sparked in her, as well as her suspicions on its origin. Better to let the vigilante think she had taken an enormous risk out of panicked self-defense, rather than suspect that Lena knew something about the operation of the weapon. She wasn’t sure if the vigilante recognized her as a Luthor, but if she didn’t, then Lena wasn’t about to let the cat out of the bag._ _

__“That was a huge risk,” The vigilante grumbled, looking up from the gun to meet Lena’s gaze. The light from the streetlamps glinted off of her sunglasses. “What if you had guessed wrong?”_ _

__Lena scowled at her. “It’s not like I had much time to thi -”_ _

__She trailed off suddenly, her eyes locked onto the vigilante’s sunglasses. Before the light from the streetlamps had drawn her attention to them, she had dismissed the frames as a generic pair - the kind one might find at Target for twenty bucks. She stooped down to place the gun on the pavement, and then stepped towards the vigilante, eyes blazing with curiosity._ _

__The vigilante took a hasty step back, leaning away from her. “Um, what are you doing?”_ _

__“Where did you get those sunglasses?” Lena demanded, and reached out to snatch them off her face, but the vigilante dodged out of the way, her hand drifting up towards the glasses as if to protect them. “Those are mine.”_ _

__“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” The vigilante answered uncomfortably, and began to back away. “I - um - a friend gave these to me.”_ _

__“Which friend?” Lena asked, her tone unyielding._ _

__“I don’t - why does it matter?”_ _

__“Because,” Lena took another step forward, her gaze boring into the vigilante. “ _I_ made those glasses. And I only made a few pairs, and I can count on _one hand_ how many of those pairs are not in my possession. So tell me, _who gave them to you?”__ _

__“I - uh - “ For the second time that evening the vigilante found herself spluttering for words, unable to come up with a suitable answer. Just then, as if on queue, the sound of the long overdue bus reached her ears, as it trundled down an adjoining street. With a jolt, the vigilante realized that it was only seconds away from turning into view. “I - I have to go!”_ _

__Lena’s face creased with confusion. “You - what?”_ _

__“I have to go!” The vigilante took another step backwards, moving completely out of Lena’s reach. “I’m sorry, but - I can’t be here when the bus comes!”_ _

__“The bus isn’t - “ Lena gave her a bewildered look, before a rumble of movement down the street caught her eye, she looked past the vigilante’s shoulder. Her eyebrows rose in surprise as, two blocks away, her long awaited bus turned onto the street. “Oh. How did you know that?”_ _

__The only answer was a flutter of movement, and Lena’s eyes fell back to the space where the vigilante had stood only moments before, only to find it utterly vacant. Her rescuer had fled, leaving Lena alone with the two unconscious attackers, as well as a destroyed bus sign. Distantly, the bus engine rumbled as it made its way down the street._ _

__Lena stood frozen, unsure of what to do. In the absence of distraction her hand began to throb again, this time worse than before, and the pounding in her head returned, stronger and more insistent. Her thoughts were jumbled and confused, and millions of questions danced behind her eyelids. She stared confusedly at the two attackers, trying to shake the feeling that there was something she had to do. Was there? What else could she do besides wait for the bus? Should she call the police -_ _

__The police! Lena’s eyes flew towards the smaller weapon, the one she had picked up at least twice - with her bare hands. Quickly she knelt, gathering the end of her shirt in her hands, and wiped the cloth down the length of the weapon, in order to remove any possible fingerprints. She finished and drew back just as the bus arrived, shuddering to a halt next to the demolished bus sign._ _

__Lena twisted around, just as the doors of the bus creaked open. She stared helplessly at the driver, who stared back in shock. His eyes traveled from her burned hand to the bodies behind her, before landing on the clearly nonhuman weapons scattered across the sidewalk._ _

__“Wha - “ He asked, his mouth working uselessly. “What - what -”_ _

__Lena saw her chance. Staggering to her feet, she cradled her injured hand against her chest. Tears of pain formed in the corners of her eyes as the burned flesh made contact with the fabric of her coat, and she inhaled shakily to complete the effect._ _

__“Please,” She sniffed, and a tear rolled down her cheek. Perfect. “Please, these men attacked me, and - and -”_ _

__The bus driver’s expression melted instantly from shock to concern, and without a moment of hesitation he pulled the brakes and leapt from his chair._ _

__“It’s alright, honey,” He said, and Lena allowed tears to flow freely down her cheeks as he led her gently up the steps and onto the bus. There were no other passengers, except a little old lady snoring gently against the window. “I’m gonna call the police, all right? These men ain’t gonna hurt you anymore - though it looks like you didn’t need much help there.”_ _

__He gave a weak, nervous chuckle. Lena just sniffled again, and then looked up to meet his gaze with wide, innocent eyes._ _

__“It wasn’t me,” She said, filling her voice with awe. “It was that vigilante. She knocked out those two men. She saved me.”_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Lena. She just has really bad luck, but at least she keeps a cool head in sticky situations.
> 
> Also, I feel Kara might come off here as rather uncaring towards Lena, since she pretty much abandons her to the cops. However, my interpretation of Kara in this story is that she's a little clueless, and just trying to do her best, but she's caught between a ton of expectations, including her own. Here she saves Lena, but is torn between helping/caring for her injury, and not revealing her identity, something that Superman and Alex have drilled into her since age 13. So she reacts by handling it badly, and doing half of both things - she does save Lena, but then she kind of thoughtlessly bolts as soon as Lena starts to question her.
> 
> Basically, I'm trying to write Kara as someone who's just trying to do her best, but still has a lot to learn, and needs to figure out what really is important in her life - what she thinks, or what everybody else is telling her? Anyway, that's my interpretation of this character, and thank you guys for reading the story as well as my ramble-y authors notes <3


	12. Aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m back....with another way too long chapter. This one took me a while to write, but I hope it’s worth it! Oh, and I don’t know if anybody is reading this story for Sanvers (probably not) but if you like Maggie and Alex, the first half of the chapter is basically all for you.

Until the phone call, Maggie thought that the date had been going extremely well.

Alex showed up at 7:00 on the dot, and Maggie couldn’t help but smile wryly at her date’s rigid punctuality, which failed to hide the fact that she worked as a government agent.

Alex arrived sporting an uncertain smile, and radiating with nerves that Maggie hadn’t picked up on in their text conversations, but somehow found very attractive. It showed a vulnerability that made Maggie relax in turn, and gave her the confidence to reach up and take the other woman’s arm, guiding her into the restaurant.

“I hope you like Italian,” She said as they bustled through the double doors that were artfully decorated in reds and greens and whites - all national colors of Italy or something like that, she supposed. “You did mention pizza, so…”

“Wow, I’m glad you picked up on that one, detective,” Alex said, a teasing note evident in her tone. “Maybe I really will put in a good word with the higher ups.”

“Nice to know that I leave such a good first impression,” Maggie laughed as they approached the hostess’ desk. “You should at least hold your final judgement until dessert, though. I mean, you don’t even know if I can hold a conversation.”

“I would hope you can,” Alex answered dryly. “Or God knows what we’ve been doing the past couple minutes.”

Maggie resisted the urge to wink. It was probably too much. “I wouldn’t really call that a conversation.”

“Oh?” A raised eyebrow. “So what would you call it?”

Screw it. Maggie went in for the wink. “It’s called flirting, babe.”

As soon as she delivered the line she stepped up to give the hostess her name, leaving a blushing Alex in her wake. She loved just how easy it was to tease a reaction out of her date. A glance back showed that she was still faintly pink, and Maggie had to look away, smothering a small grin as the hostess checked her list and led them into a small booth, tucked away at the back of the restaurant. 

It was a cute little place, with soft lighting and candles on the table, and songs in Italian that crackled and popped as if coming from a radio, rather than subtly placed speakers. Sethers had recommended her the spot, and Maggie made a mental note to thank him during their next shift. Even if he’d given her an inordinate amount of shit for asking out someone she’d questioned over a crime.

“You really gonna go through with that?” He’d asked in disbelief when Maggie had called him about date recommendations. The guy had six years of a happy marriage and a toddler under his belt, so she figured he had to know something about romance. “Jesus, Maggie, isn’t that illegal?”

“Only if I’m on the case,” She’d retorted, allowing some annoyance to seep into her tone. As if she hadn’t been considering that for the past three weeks. “And we put it away nearly a month ago, don’t you remember? There’s no reason to go after a vigilante if they’re not...uh...vigilanting anymore.”

Sethers hadn’t been convinced. “And what if they come back?” He’d pointed out. “I’m not saying this girl is related to the whole thing, but, ya know…”

He trailed off, and gave a shrug. Maggie could tell he wanted to say more, but in the end he dropped the subject and didn’t bring it up again, except to text her his recommendation - the restaurant they were currently sitting at. The man knew her well, though; as she examined the menu, her gaze caught on a vegan section, and she smiled.

Maggie could understand her partner’s concern, to an extent. She didn’t have the best history in regards to romantic judgement, and her last tumultuous relationship had really been a doozy - the kind that ended with stormy fights and blocking each other on social media. It hadn’t been a pretty sight, and Sethers had been in a front row seat for the whole thing. Therefore, Maggie could understand some of his reluctance.

But understanding didn’t equal agreement, and as the first date awkwardness eased and the conversation began to flow, Maggie couldn’t help but think that Sethers’ normally impeccable intuition had really missed the mark. 

Because holy shit, this chick was _amazing_. Of course, Maggie wasn’t above admitting that she’d originally slipped Alex her number for purely shallow reasons - the woman was cute and tough, two of Maggie’s major weaknesses - but she hadn’t realized just how much depth was hiding behind that tough exterior.

At first they stuck to safe territory, flirting and jokes, but after Alex ordered a bottle of wine while they waited for their food, the conversation began to flow more easily, shifting into deeper topics. They covered both of their jobs (apparently the FBI was way more secretive than Maggie thought, or Alex just wasn’t allowed to tell her anything juicy), before moving onto families and childhood memories. Alex talked about her sister’s adoption, pain turning her expression hard as flint even as her eyes stayed soft when she spoke of Kara. She talked about how rocky their relationship had been at first, until her parents’ sudden deaths had pushed them close - more out of necessity than anything else. She spoke about how she’d never really thought about being a parent until the role had been thrust upon her, but as Maggie leaned in close to catch every word, she could see that Alex wore the role as if she’d been born into it. It showed in the way her stance tightened protectively at any mention of her sister, in the softness of her gaze as she spoke about her loved ones - both the dead and living. There was an honesty in the way she spoke, in the way that she was, and Maggie quickly found herself falling headily into something far deeper than she’d expected.

Somewhere around the second glass of wine, Maggie found herself spilling the story of her coming out to her father, and her subsequent eviction, as Alex listened with wide, sympathetic eyes. It was a story that she never told until the fifth date, at _least_ , but something about Alex’s quiet, focused attention teased it out of her, even though she never fished for the story - didn’t even ask. 

It was a new feeling, this connection that Maggie didn’t normally get until several dates in, and maybe it was because she was flushed from her third cup of wine and the restaurant had a surprisingly good vegan menu, but she had the funny feeling that she was falling in love.

_Calm down there Sawyer_ , she told herself sternly. _You barely know her. And anyway, since when do you go all in on the first date?_

That was a good point, because Maggie had made an art of picking up girls by playing a combination of intense interest and hard-to-get. It was a subtle balance, but Maggie had perfected her methods. Start with confidence and honesty, show your interest, but better not to go in for the kill, and especially not on the first date - you gotta keep ‘em wanting more.

Except as she sat across from Alex, trying to keep from laughing as the other woman blustered jokingly about her pool skills (something they’d definitely be settling for good on the next date), Maggie found that she was the one wanting more. She’d always scoffed at the U-Haul lesbian stereotype, and yet here she was trying to work up the courage to ask for a second date before they’d even gotten the check for the first one.

As the waitress cleared away their plates, Alex looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “So are you a dessert kind of girl or a ‘gotta keep the figure’ kind of girl?”

_Definitely dessert, if it’s with you_ , she thought to herself. Out loud, she said, “I’m vegan, not crazy.”

Alex’s shoulders slumped in mock relief. “Oh thank god. I was afraid I’d have to split and run.”

Maggie grinned. “Just for that, I’m gonna wait til you go to the bathroom and order us both the vegan ice cream.”

“Thin ice, Sawyer. Thin ice.”

“Those are gonna be the betting odds for our pool game,” Maggie said, eyes sparkling with amusement. “And once I win -“

“Oh, so that’s how it’s gonna be?” Alex cut her off, leaning forward. There was an unmistakable challenge in her eyes. “Listen Sawyer -“

Unfortunately, Maggie didn’t get to hear the rest of the challenge. Her phone went off, cutting the sentence in two, and she jumped, cursing, before sending an apologetic glance towards Alex.

“Shit, I’m really sorry -“ The words spilled from her mouth in a rush, as she dug around in her coat pocket for the offending device. “- It must be my partner at work, I told him not to call me unless it’s an emergency -“

“Maggie, it’s fine.” Alex’s gaze was soft, her eyes filled with understanding. Maggie could have kissed her in that moment, though a part of her desperately wanted to explain that no, it wasn’t okay, because _she_ didn’t want the interruption from their time together. It didn’t matter what the emergency was, she thought grimly as she brought the phone to her ear. No way was she gonna leave in the middle of the best date she’d had in - well, she couldn’t remember how long.

“This better be good, Sethers,” She growled immediately into the device, and Alex cast her a sympathetic look. “You know I’m busy right now.”

“Forget the date, Maggie - we’ve got a situation.” 

Sethers’ voice came through hard and businesslike, enough to make Maggie drop the disappointment and switch immediately to work mode. Her partner was an easygoing guy, even in the most stressed of situations, so when he decided to drop the light tone - well, that was when Maggie knew shit was serious.

“What happened?” She asked, straightening up in her seat. Alex caught her eye and gave a questioning frown, but she just shook her head.

“There’s been an attempted assault at the bus stop on Fifth and Jackson,” He informed her, a rote briskness in his voice as he recited the facts. “Two perps, and one victim - an eighteen year old girl.”

“Okay, so what’s that got to do with me?” Maggie demanded, sneaking a glance towards Alex, who was waiting patiently. God, she was such a terrible date. “That’s not even our area. Tell them to put a different team on it.”

“They don’t want a different team,” He replied, and for the first time his tone lost some of that businesslike edge, a note of hesitation creeping in. “I know it’s not our section, technically, but they want us on the case.”

“Why?” Maggie frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”

There was a pause as she heard Sethers take a deep breath on the other end of the line. “Damn it, Maggie, you’re not gonna want to hear this, but -“

“But what?” Her voice was urgent with impatience. “C’mon Sethers, just spit it out. It can’t be that bad.”

“It’s -“ Another moment of hesitation. A sigh, and then he spoke. “It’s the vigilante. She’s back.”

He was right. That was exactly the last thing Maggie wanted to hear in the moment.

God damn it.

Her expression must have gone slack with shock, because Alex was giving her a strange look. She stared back blankly, unsure of what to do, what to say.

_Hi, you know that case that I questioned you over and then used as an excuse to ask you out? Well, it’s back now, and if we’re picking up where we left off, your sister might be the prime suspect._

Not the way Maggie wanted to end the date.

“Maggie…?” Sethers’ voice came worriedly over the line. “Not to rush you but we’re already supposed to be at the crime scene…”

“Right.” With one fortifying breath, Maggie snapped herself back to reality. Despite the incredibly strong temptation in her to simply hang up the phone and proceed with the date as if nothing had happened, she knew she wouldn’t do that - because for all her faults and quirks, Maggie Sawyer was, at heart, a consummate professional.

And now, she had a job to do.

“I’m coming over right now,” She told Sethers, and barely listened to his reply before hanging up, and casting a Alex an extremely apologetic look. “Listen, Alex -“

“I get it,” She said immediately, and Maggie could see from the look on her face that she was telling the truth. “The job’s the job, right?”

“Right,” Maggie said again, though her expression was pained. She pulled out her wallet, distractedly throwing down a sum of cash big enough to cover both their meals, as her next words tumbled out of her in a disjointed rush. “But Alex, before I race out of here like a jerk, I gotta say - I had a great time. And I wanna do it again, if you’re interested.”

It wasn’t the smooth offer she’d planned on slipping in somewhere between dessert and the bill, but desperate times called for inelegant measures. She knew she sounded like an idiot, but even so, Alex broke into a smile that lit up her entire face, and made Maggie wish desperately that she could stay just a bit longer.

“Of course, _detective_.” Her voice teased, but there was no malice. “How about you give me a call when you’re free?”

“I’d love to,” Maggie said, and flashed her a slightly relieved grin. “I’ve still gotta beat you in pool, Danvers.”

Alex snorted. “As if.” She pulled out her wallet, and then stopped when she saw the wad of cash Maggie had thrown down. Her eyebrows rose. “Maggie, that’s sweet, but I’m fine with paying for my own food.”

Maggie just rolled her eyes, and went to stand up from the little booth. “Not a chance. I asked you out, remember? Consider it insurance for that second date.”

Alex shook her head, but slipped her wallet back into her purse. “You’re too smooth for your own good.” She went to stand up as well, and then hesitated, uncertain. “Listen, Maggie, if there’s any way I can help with the investigation…”

Maggie shrugged, buttoning up her coat. “Thanks, but I don’t think it’s something that’s worth the feds’ time. More of a city issue.”

“Oh.” Alex tried to disguise her interest, but she did a bad job of it. Maggie could tell she was itching to ask what it was. 

She decided to throw her a bone. “It’s fine, Alex, you can ask about it. It’s not a secret, and anyways, I don’t think my job gets to keep anything from yours.”

“Am I that obvious?” Alex said in surprise, but at Maggie’s nod, she laughed. “Okay, you got me. I’m curious. What’s the case about?”

“Honestly? It’s really just another one of those alien related crimes that keep popping up,” Maggie explained, and gestured towards the exit. “Shall we?”

Alex nodded and they began to move towards the entrance, returning the hostess’ farewell with a smile as they passed through the waiting area.

“So what’s so special about this one?” Alex asked as they ducked out into the darkened streets. A gust of wind blew chilly air into their faces, rustling through their hair, and unconsciously the two women huddled closer together. “I mean, besides the whole alien thing. Hell, that’s almost expected these days.”

“It is,” Maggie acknowledged with a tilt of her head, and let herself move closer to the other woman, so close that they were practically touching. Alex didn’t seem to mind, and instead responded by slipping her hand into Maggie’s. 

Maggie couldn’t help the gleeful grin that spread across her face. Score.

Unfortunately, such was her glee that she didn’t take the opportunity to study Alex’s face at her next words. Rather, her head still clouded by her apparent success, Maggie didn’t even look up as she casually chucked out the next sentence, too focused on the feel of Alex’s fingers twined in hers.

“Problem is, we’ve got a victim of the crime that’s claiming they were saved by some vigilante - supposedly, the same one that disappeared a few weeks ago.”

Alex’s hand disappeared, yanked from her grasp, and for a moment Maggie didn’t understand what had happened. Then Alex whirled on her, eyes blazing.

“ _What?_ ” Her tone was intense, almost angry, so much that Maggie took a step back in surprise.

“Whoa, Danvers, it’s not that big of a deal,” She said automatically, confusion flooding her thoughts. However, Alex barely seemed to hear the reassurance.

“What did the victim say about the vigilante?” She demanded, and took a step forward, bringing her close enough to tower over Maggie, as her eyes blazed with a curiosity so intense it was verging on worry. “Did they say whether they actually saw h - them?”

Maggie narrowed her eyes. “ No, they didn’t tell me anything, except that I need to get there as soon as possible.”

As if to confirm her rush, a series of beeps rang out from Maggie’s pocket - probably Sethers, wondering where the hell she was. Alex’s eyes flicked down towards the sound, and suddenly, as if realizing the extent of her overreaction, she drew back.

“Of course not, that makes sense,” She muttered, and began to dig through her own pockets for her phone. “In fact, you should probably get going. I don’t want to keep you.”

But Maggie didn’t move. Instead she stood, rooted in place by the pit of suspicion forming deep in her gut. She eyed Alex, and suddenly all of her earlier misgivings about the date came flooding back. 

_Stupid, Sawyer, stupid. Did you really just think you could casually start dating someone who’d been implicated in an investigation?_ A smug little voice chided at the back of her head. It sounded suspiciously like Sethers. 

Damn. Maggie had been so confident when she’d told him that the case wouldn’t be reopened. So confident that the success of their date had almost driven the possible connection between Alex and their elusive vigilante from her mind. 

_Nice going, Sawyer. You really do know how to pick em._

The universe was definitely laughing at her. 

“Alex, do you know something about the case?” Maggie asked, trying and failing to keep her voice nonchalant, free from suspicion.

Alex’s eyes widened at the question, and her expression shifted, dropping briefly into guilt before closing off completely. Maggie could actually see the warmth in her eyes fading away, and a pang of panicky loss hit her as she realized that whatever connection they’d made was suddenly and inexplicably starting to unravel - right before Maggie’s eyes.

“No,” Alex said firmly, and her eyes were hard as she leveled a steady gaze at Maggie. “I don’t know anything about it. It just happens to be of some interest to my department as well.”

Now that was a lie if Maggie had ever heard one.

However, Alex’s expression didn’t give an inch, and under any other circumstances Maggie might’ve been impressed at the way she managed to slip into her professional persona in only a matter of seconds. 

Except it wasn’t any other moment, and so Maggie felt nothing but a piercing stab of disappointment, because suddenly she and Alex were no longer two women out on a date together; suddenly, it was Detective Sawyer and Agent Danvers, staring across each other from a chasm of secrecy that she barely even understood.

“Okay, fine.” Maggie eyed her, and she hated herself for the doubt settling in her stomach - but that was the job, wasn’t it? “I believe you but - and I hate to say this - you do know that if this case is reopened, I may have to ask you a few questions? Because of your sister, and everything.”

“I know,” Alex said coolly, and folded her arms across her chest. “And you don’t have to worry. There’s nothing to find.”

_Crossed arms - classic defensive reaction when lying,_ the thought ran across Maggie’s mind, unbidden, and she pushed it away, unwilling, or perhaps unable, to accept it. Instead she forced a neutral expression, and gave a tight, professional nod.

“I really hope not,” She said, and despite the sudden ice between them - she meant it.

They surveyed each other for just a couple seconds longer, almost tauntingly, as if waiting for the other to move, until Maggie forced herself to tear her gaze away, and look down at her watch.

“I’ve got to go,” She said, and gestured towards her car, parked only a short distance from the restaurant. “You got a way to get home?”

“I’ll manage,” Alex answered curtly, but her tone faltered, the mask of indifference slipping momentarily before snapping back into place. “I should probably be getting home too. Have a good night, Maggie.”

Before Maggie could respond, Alex spun on her heel and left, striding off down the dark street. Maggie watched her go, a bitter wave of disappointment welling up in her. She wanted to shake it off, chalk it down as a simple missed chance - a great first date that wasn’t meant to be - but she couldn’t. The whole thing just stunk of unfairness.

Another beep from her pocket jolted Maggie out of her self-pity. She startled back to the present, shook her head to clear her thoughts, and pulled her phone out of her pocket. Sure enough, there were a million messages from Sethers.

_Sethers: maggie, where are you?_

_Sethers: dude, are you coming or not?_

_Sethers: cmon maggie, idk whats going on with your date but we have a case to do!!!_

_Sethers: srsly, i can’t leave the crime scene til you come look it over too, and we’ve got questioning to do!!_

_Sethers: if you’re ignoring me, i’m gonna kill u_

Maggie read the series of increasingly desperate messages and winced; she hadn’t meant to leave him alone on the scene. She shot off a quick response - _sorry, had some drama but i’m on my way_ \- and hopped into her car, not waiting for his response. It came anyway, as she was pulling out into the empty street, and she glanced over as the screen lit up.

_Sethers: thank god. and sorry, hope ur date didn’t dump you over the whole thing_

“She might as well have,” Maggie muttered as she stomped on the gas, blowing past green lights and the few cars still out in the streets. Lately, it was rare to see anybody out and about after dark. She wondered if one of those cars contained Alex, no doubt on her way home to check on her sister, and then forced the thought from her head. It was no good to keep thinking about her. Whether she was connected or not - and no matter what ruined possibilities might have lain between them - she couldn’t afford to let it affect her. She had to keep her emotions separate from the investigation. 

Maggie had a job to do.

***

Lena sat numbly on the hospital bed, letting the nurse fuss about her hand. It stung terribly, but she didn’t let the pain show on her face. Every time the nurse asked her if she was okay, she simply nodded. 

Her supposed shock at the situation was the perfect excuse to sit there quietly as the hospital personnel dealt with her. Besides the initial muttering upon discovering her family name, the doctor and nurses were all extremely nice, in a way that Lena found surprising, but extraordinarily welcome. She had never been to a public hospital, that she could remember; her family had a private doctor, whose bedside manner she’d always found to be rather creepy, and any medical situation warranting more than a doctor’s visit was directed to the family’s private clinic.

So as the nurse bustled about, occasionally tossing her some kind words of reassurance, Lena let herself remain quiet in apparent shock, even as her mind turned with the implications of what had happened. Her head had stopped spinning, and even though her hand still hurt with every movement, the pain wasn’t so demanding as before.

Which left her free to hypothesize.

She had a million questions, and of what she could figure, there were two central mysteries from which all of those questions stemmed. The first was that of the vigilante - or rather, her identity. The other was the undeniably familiar weapon that her attacker had pointed in her face.

Lena knew that the vigilante’s identity was the less pressing of the two questions. However, it nagged at her anyway, the answer annoying close, and yet always slipping just out of reach when she tried to grasp it.

And yet there was something so _familiar_ about her - the voice, the sunglasses, the way she seemed to _know_ Lena; the more she thought about it, the more it seemed obvious that the vigilante was somebody that she knew.

But who?

Theories were forming in her mind, and she desperately wanted a pen and paper in which to etch them out. She had her suspicions, but there was no way to act on them while she was still in the hospital. 

So she reluctantly pushed the half formed plans aside, with a mental promise to return as soon as she could, and shifted her thoughts to the other, more pressing mystery. 

It was one she greeted with a lot less enthusiasm, and for a reason. If Lena was right about the weapons she had seen - and only time, and some well placed digging would tell her - it might mean that her entire perception of her brother, not to mention the rest of her family, and the business itself - was wrong. It might mean that her brother and mother were involved in something far more dangerous than insider trading and shady business practices. Something that endangered the lives of everybody in National City.

For as much as Lena didn’t particularly like her family, she didn’t think she was ready to accept the implications of those thoughts.

The nurse smiled at her, and Lena returned it wanly. She didn’t feel like speaking, especially with the crazy, almost conspiracy-sounding theories filling her head. Luckily, the nurse didn’t press, but simply continued in tending to her injuries, leaving Lena to return to brood on exactly what the things she didn’t want to think about.

Because she had seen that weapon before - or at least, had seen the plans for it. It was Lex’s brainchild, and it had revolted her then as much as it did now. 

He had shown it to her only a few months before his infamous attack. By that point in time, they had already been fairly distant - a change spurred by Lex’s increasingly erratic, almost maniacal, behavior. He had always been a little obsessive, sure, and plenty ambitious, but his drive had always been directed towards good; he and Lena used to while away hours in LuthorCorp labs, trying to out-invent each other for the pure fun of it, or simply just to improve existing products. Lex always had a fascination with making things better, more efficient; he used to go on for hours about ‘the good of society’, and how LuthorCorp could help the world.

But once Lena left for boarding school, there had been a distinct change in his behavior. She remembered coming back on the holidays to find Lex changing more and more with each visit. The ambition in his gaze had been replaced entirely by obsession, except that his obsession had a new, hateful edge to it - gone were the days when he talked endlessly about how to improve society. Instead, Lena found herself listening with growing disbelief to his long, almost hysterical rants about hidden threats to humanity - mainly those of extraterrestrial nature.

In the rather dysfunctional structure of the Luthor family, Lex had always been Lena’s rock - until, suddenly, he wasn’t. With every visit, Lena watched with a sinking feeling as her brother’s worldview began to resemble more and more that of her mother’s. She didn’t understand the change, or what sparked it, but every time she questioned his new views, it devolved quickly into nasty fights. 

Lex was nothing if not stubborn.

Eventually, she stopped trying to question him - and as time went on, she stopped visiting. She was too angry with him - and even more, she was bitter at the way Lex had managed to get sucked into their family’s hateful way of thinking. She had always believed him too good for that path.

And then Lex tried to blow up Superman, and nearly took the lives of countless innocent students in the process.

Lena stopped believing in a lot of things, after that.

As much as she didn’t want to recall the memory, it stuck obstinately in her mind. It happened during her last Christmas back at home, when she had still hung onto some hope that Lex would outgrow his alien obsession. They had long since stopped going to the lab together, and all of their conversations seemed to devolve into snippy arguments, if not outright fights.

Lena sometimes wondered afterwards if showing her the weapon’s design had been an attempt to try and rekindle their shared passion for inventing. There had been a time when the siblings tossed every new idea between each other, before moving onto the drawing board. Perhaps, she thought, Lex had been thinking of this when he had beckoned Lena to his room on Christmas eve, his eyes sparkling with the same mischief she remembered from the countless pranks and jokes they used to pull as children.

Lena had gone with him, uncertain, but also hopeful. They hadn’t really done much but argue since she’d arrive home, but there was still a small part of her heart that leapt whenever they managed to act like old times - like the brother and sister they used to be.

And then she’d seen the designs, and her heart had sunk.

“You like ‘em?” Lex had asked. His words were hesitant, nervous, but there was an undertone of stubborn pride that made itself apparent. “Thought you might want to get a sneak peek at my first real project for - uh, the company.”

“Um...” Lena peered closer, uncertain as to how to react. There was something obstinate, almost dangerous, underlying his words, and it made her wary. “Are these...weapons?”

“Good eye, sis,” Lex said sarcastically, and rolled his eyes, before shoving the plans closer. “Yeah, sort of. Not really, though. But look at it - this is the most complex concept I’ve ever worked on. See the highlighted parts?”

Lena took the plans silently, following his gaze to where he was pointing with a pen. Lex continued on, his voice rising in excitement. 

“Those parts are _alien_ technology - can you believe that? I reverse engineered their devices to create something that can literally erase a person’s memory. Think of the possibilities! This could change the field of neuroscience completely! Think of the good it could do for trauma patients.”

Lena frowned, her forehead creasing. “Are the effects permanent?”

Lex shrugged dismissively. “That depends. It has different power levels, anywhere from a few hours to - well, I guess everything, if you really don’t like the person.”

He laughed heartily at his own joke. Lena didn’t join in. Instead she stared at the designs, struggling to find the right words to express her thoughts.

Finally, she spoke. “Why’s it shaped like a gun?”

Lex frowned, clearly unhappy with her reaction. “I figure out how to manipulate the human mind and that’s what you focus on?”

He leaned over to look with her, and let out a frustrated sigh. “That was just the most convenient shape, okay? It’s not a weapon.”

“But it could be used as a weapon,” Lena murmured, unable to conceal the dismay in her tone. “If it fell into the wrong hands.”

This was apparently the wrong thing to say. Lex scowled, and snatched the plans out of her hands. The movement was so violent that it made her flinch, and she took a step back, her eyes jerking up to meet his own unflinching gaze.

“Why do you have to be so negative about everything I do?” He demanded, and there was a spark of anger burning in his eyes. “Seriously, Lena - I thought you’d be interested in this! We used to share all of our ideas, and now - now you just nitpick everything that I try to do!”

“What _are_ you trying to do?” She hurled back at him, eyes blazing. She jabbed a finger at the crumpled plans in his hands. “Lex, those are not the kind of projects we used to talk about! What possible good could there be in erasing somebody’s memory?”

He hesitated for a fraction of a second, looking as if he were about to say something, and then his jaw set. 

“You think you know everything, Lena,” He managed at last, barely restrained anger choking his words. “You think we’re gonna save the world with nice words and water filters. Well, guess what? There are threats out there that _you_ know nothing about, threats that I’m actually trying to fix, while -“

“What threats?” Lena asked quietly, cutting off his building rant.

“What?” Lex said, caught off guard by the question.

“ _What_ threats are you talking about?” Lena repeated the question, her eyes wide with concern. “Lex, is there something you’re not telling me?”

Her tone was plaintive, almost patronizing - the tone one might use with a relative who was not quite right in the head. Lex, however, balked at the note of worry in her voice, and his next words came out in a growl.

“Oh, so you think I’m crazy?” He asked, his voice dangerously low. “Nice to see what you think of your big brother, Lena.”

Lena almost said no, even began to open her mouth to reply, but in the same moment she caught sight of _something_ dancing behind his eyes - something off-kilter, almost unhinged, in his expression. 

What was happening to her big brother?

A moment of silence passed, as Lena struggled to find the right words. At last, she began to speak, each sentence carefully crafted.

“Lex - I don’t think you’re crazy, but -“ She began, and stepped forward, reaching out a tentative hand. “There’s something different about you. We used to have fun, but now everytime I come home you sound more and more like mom, with all your anti-alien conspiracies. Did -“

“Conspiracies?” That was the wrong word to use, apparently. The crazed look in Lex’s eyes had flared up again. “Lena, they’re not - you know what? I don’t care. You’re just an ignorant teenage girl, and you obviously don’t understand anything about the world. So how about you get out of my room, and leave the world-saving to somebody more capable?”

“Lex -“

“Just - get out!” He roared, and threw the designs he’d been holding violently down on the desk. The pages scattered with the impact, drifting off the wood surface and onto the floor. Instinctively, Lena bent down to pick them up, but Lex pushed her away, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Get out of my room,” He hissed at her, and as Lena looked up to fully meet his gaze, she realized with a jolt that her brother was nowhere to be found. Instead, a crazed man wore her brother’s face, his features twisted up into something disconcertingly close to madness. 

Pain welled up in her, and shifted quickly into anger. “Fine,” She snapped, and lunged away from him, fleeing from the room before he could change his mind. The door slammed behind her with a resounding crash, and only then did she let the tears prick at her eyes. Even so, she managed to make it to her own room to lock the door behind her, before the first tear trickled down her cheek. Only then did she give herself leave to cry.

She didn’t try to talk to Lex for the rest of the holiday, and the remaining days passed in frosty silence between them. That was the last time Lena returned home for the holidays. The next holiday - spring break - she spent on a friend’s invitation to her beach house, and avoided all phone calls from her family, and particularly from Lex.

A few months after that, her brother sprung his doomed attack, and Lena never had the chance to speak with him again.

She didn’t want to. And as for the plans - and the memory of that last visit - she tucked them away into a deep corner of her mind, and refused to look at them. It hurt too much, and filled her with so many conflicting emotions - guilt, anger, sadness, and worst of all, a longing for her brother, the way he used to be.

Except now, it appeared that whatever those designs, they hadn’t just been the single brainchild of her crazed older brother. Now, she had irrevocable proof of the weapon’s existence, beyond that of simple designs and theories. It made Lena wonder if she - and the entire country - had been mistaken in labeling her brother a lone wolf terrorist. Perhaps he hadn’t been working alone - perhaps he had been involved in some organization, something that could cut him off and then pick up his plans and run with them - 

“I _will_ see my daughter!”

Lena looked up, startled, as did the nurse who was dressing her wound. The nurse cast Lena a curious look, and she shrugged in response, before they both swiveled towards the door that led into the hallway, where it was evident from the noise that some sort of commotion was going on.

And from the sounds emanating from the hallway, Lena could guess exactly what the source of that commotion was.

There was a rustle of heated muttering, some weak protests - possibly from a hapless nurse - and then the unmistakably harsh tones of Lillian Luthor came cutting through the hubbub.

“Enough.” Even faint and far off, her voice was cold enough to freeze water. “I’m not interested in filling out forms, because as I have said, I plan on transferring my daughter immediately to our private clinic, and you may direct any relevant paperwork there.” 

The words themselves were tame, but the chill in her voice cast silence across the hall. Lena grimaced, and the nurse cast her a sympathetic look just as the door swung open and Lillian swept into the room. 

If Lena expected Lillian to show any sort of softness in her expression, she was sorely disappointed. Her mother’s gaze roamed impassionately over her injuries, lingering for a few moments on Lena’s bandaged hand, before sweeping back up to meet her eyes. Lena set her jaw defiantly, and waited for the criticism.

It never came. Instead Lillian waved the nurse briskly towards the door, and waited impatiently as the woman gathered her things and stumbled hurriedly towards the exit, before speaking.

“Are you alright?”

The words could have been a physical blow for the way they caught Lena off guard. She stared open mouthed at her mother, who looked back steadily. 

At her silence, Lillian’s mouth twitched in disapproval. “Did the thugs rob you of your ability to speak?”

“No,” Lena managed to spit out, and then forced herself to pull it together. A few nice words - even if they happened to be from her mother, who had never given her an honest reassurance in her life - would not be the last straw that would push Lena over the edge. 

“I’m fine,” She continued, and then amended her statement as her mother’s gaze flicked down towards her hand, one eyebrow arched in disbelief. “I mean, I did get hurt, but nothing serious. The nurses said it should heal okay.”

“Hmm,” Lillian hummed, doubt at the nurses’ opinions etched clearly into her face. “Honestly, I’m surprised they didn’t transfer you the moment they realized who they were treating. I’ll be sending a strong letter to the board of this hospital, you can be sure of that.”

Lena just sat in confusion, unsure of how to respond. She thought that this might be her mother’s way of showing concern, but since when had she shown concern for Lena’s wellbeing? There was something off about the whole situation.

Lillian clicked her tongue impatiently. “Well?” She asked sharply. “Are you well enough to walk, or shall I call for the nurse to wheel you out?”

Her mother’s sharp tongue brought Lena immediately back to normalcy, and she threw her an irritated glare before springing down from the hospital bed. 

“I’m fine, mother,” She muttered again, and made an effort to ignore the sharp ache that lanced over her hand with every movement. She was pretty sure she was meant to be getting painkillers or something, but she didn’t particularly want to ask at the moment. “Honestly, I’m surprised you didn’t just send the company car to pick me up.”

“Rude and unbecoming as always.” Lillian’s voice rang with disapproval. “Of course I don’t plan on leaving my daughter in this disgusting public hospital, no matter how ungrateful she appears. I hope you’ll be able to put some semblance of politeness into your expression by the time we leave the room.”

Right. It was always about appearances with her mother. Lena rolled her eyes, but even so, as she trailed after Lillian into the hallway, she forced her features into a sort of grateful smile, more for the benefit of the hospital staff than her mother. They had been so nice to her, even after they’d found out her family name. It wasn’t often she got such pleasant reaction from people. 

At that thought, the memory of someone else’s reaction floated across her mind, and Lena’s heart squeezed as she recalled what had happened before her near-death experience. It seemed so long ago, and yet it had been - what? A few hours? Not even a full night? No - the first rays of dawn were filtering through the windows of the hospital lobby. A full night had passed since Lena and Kara’s catastrophic date.

At that moment, as she followed her mother quietly out into the parking lot, all Lena could think about was calling Kara. She desperately wanted to talk to her, to apologize for her behavior, if only to hear her cheerful voice. 

Of course, too much lay between them for Lena to simply pick up the phone and call, as much as her fingers ached to do so. There was the whole issue with her family history - and okay, maybe Lena had reacted badly, but she still wasn’t sure that Kara would want anything to do with her in any case. The dizzying events of the night may have scrambled her recollections, but even so, that of Kara’s face, pale with fear, stayed fresh in her mind. 

However, that wasn’t the only misgiving that stayed Lena’s hand. There was still that other issue, the incredulous theory that was slowing forming in her head - a theory so ludicrous that to think of it directly made Lena fear that she might be joining Lex in taking a dive of the deep end.

So she kept her theory at the edge of her thoughts, never examining it directly - for fear of debunking or confirming it, she wasn’t sure - and let a loose idea hatch in the back of her mind. It was a simple plan, one that involved only two or three steps. The first involved some research, the second involved seducing Kara into a subtle round of questioning. 

The third step was a tad more extreme, and thus something that she filed away as a last option. If she could get Kara to admit something (not that there might be anything to admit, she reminded herself), she wouldn’t have to use it. 

Lena was still quietly preoccupied in her thoughts as she slid into the car - her mother’s personal vehicle, she noted idly - and there was silence as they pulled out of the parking lot and into the road. It was still nearly deserted in the early morning hour.

The minute they were on the open road, Lilian broke the silence, snagging Lena reluctantly from her thoughts.

“So tell me exactly what happened.” The statement might have been conversational, except it was delivered in a tone that left no room for argument. Lena bristled instinctively at the demand.

“Probably nothing that the police haven’t told you,” She shrugged, her tone peevish. “I got mugged, and then I got rescued. And then you picked me up from the hospital. End of story.”

“I am not interested in talking to the police,” Lillian snapped, unmoved by her daughter’s tone. Her eyes remained fixed on the road as she spoke. “I want to hear it from you. All of it.”

“Why?” Lena demanded suspiciously. “Why do you care? It’s not like I died or anything.”

“You could have,” Lillian replied, and although Lena was making an effort to glare intensely out of the front window, she could have sworn she saw her mother’s gaze dart towards her, just for a moment, before returning to watch the road.

Lillian cleared her throat and continued. “And in any case, I know you may not agree with my views, Lena, but these alien thugs are a menace, and I won’t stand for them threatening my daughter, nevermind the entire city.”

“They weren’t aliens,” Lena mumbled, and slumped low in her seat, still glaring bitterly out across the dashboard. “They were just guys with alien weapons.”

“That’s just as bad,” Lillian said sharply. “Make no mistake, alien technology fallen into the wrong hands can do an enormous amount of damage to this city.”

There was something about Lillian’s subdued - almost knowing - reaction, that made the image of Lex’s device flash unbidden across Lena’s mind. She wondered if Lillian knew about his designs; she wondered if she would have recognized the weapon the man had tried to use against her.

_Lena, don’t be an idiot,_ she chided herself. _Of course she knew about the designs._

In fact, as Lena thought about it, there was no way her mother _hadn’t_ known. Ever since she’d taken over the company, Lillian had made it a point to personally approve every new idea before allowing it to reach the design stage. If he was building it for the company - and he said he’d been - Lex would have had to have pitched the idea to her before even bringing pen to paper.

But why would her xenophobic mother want Lex to design alien weapons? And why would she decide to develop those designs even after Lex’s arrest? 

The whole thing made no sense, and Lena’s head was starting to swim. If she wanted to entertain the preposterous idea that Lillian had chosen to develop alien weapons, the question still stood as to why she would let those weapons fall into criminal hands. Lena had never known her mother to be a step behind, in any plan; if there had been a leak at the company, she was sure that it would have been plugged up before it even happened. The only way something could get out of LuthorCorp’s secret lab were if Lillian wanted it to get out.

Oh.

The answer, sickeningly obvious, rose up immediately in Lena’s head, and she felt a wave of nausea at the implications. She glanced sideways at her mother, suddenly wary.

“Why don’t you do something about it then?” Lena asked, her tone sullen. It was exactly the sort of contrary question that her mother would expect from her; she just prayed her voice betrayed none of the suspicion bubbling up in her thoughts. 

However, Lillian just snorted, her eyes still glued to the road.

“You try getting anything done with this city council. They won’t recognize a problem unless it’s already under their noses, and too big to ignore.”

Lena took the answer in silence, digesting its meaning. There was something hidden behind her mother’s words; as if she had already tried to fix the problem, and hadn’t succeeded. 

Or maybe she was trying to fix the problem right now.

Either way, Lena knew in that moment that she was not going to tell her mother that she had recognized her attacker’s weapon. No matter what her mother’s reaction to that tidbit of information might reveal, it wasn’t worth giving her cause to suspect that her daughter knew something. Lillian might already be two steps ahead of her, but Lena wasn’t about to make it three.

Instead, she decided to change tact. 

“At least the vigilante’s doing something,” She grumbled. “I mean, if it wasn’t for her, I might be dead by now. Wish I could say thank you, though.”

At the end of her sentence, Lena glanced over at her mother to catch her reaction. She wasn’t disappointed; at the mention of the vigilante, Lillian’s grip on the steering wheel tightened, and her knuckles turned white. However, when she finally spoke, her voice was carefully neutral.

“That’s actually something I wanted to discuss with you,” Lillian said. The words sounded stiff, unnatural. “I think you would do well to avoid interacting with that - that masked criminal. Don’t go searching her out again.”

Lena rolled her eyes. “Mother, I didn’t ask her to save my life! I didn’t even know she would appear.”

Lillian dipped her head in acknowledgment, but continued, unmoved. “Yes, that’s all very well and good, but I know you, Lena. You probably want to figure that girl out more than anyone. That’s why I’m telling you right now - don’t get involved with the likes of her.”

“Oh, and how do you know it’s a girl?” Lena demanded, her eyes narrowing. “I didn’t tell you that.”

There was an instant - just a fraction of a second - where Lillian stumbled; she opened her mouth to reply, and then shut it swiftly, her lips pressing into a thin line. It was only for a moment, but Lena caught the hesitancy before she answered.

“I saw it in the paper,” She said at last. Lena just looked at her, unconvinced, until she continued with a sigh. “I’ve been following the situation for some time. It’s of some interest to me.”

“Why?” Lena pressed, unyielding.

“Because I care about the safety of this city, Lena,” Lillian snapped irritably. “And I care about your safety, much as you choose not to believe it. That so-called superhero is a threat to lawful order, and as citizens we shouldn’t have to rely on some self proclaimed vigilante to save us. That’s what the police are for.”

“The police are too overworked to deal with the problem,” Lena pointed out. “Maybe a superhero could help.”

Lillian sniffed in disdain. “I hope you’re not implying that another Superman is a better option than a better budgeted and more well-equipped police force.”

Lena raised one eyebrow. “Well, the crime rate in Metropolis -“

“Has temporarily gone down because the police have decided to turn over their jobs to an _alien._ ” She spit the word in her disgust. “It’s not a workable system. You can’t let the security of humans depend on some creature that’s not even from the planet.”

At that point, Lena realized it was time to concede the argument. Once her mother started on one of her anti alien rants, there would be no hope of getting anything useful out of her. She’d have to work with the information she’d gleaned from Lillian’s reactions. 

“Fine, fine,” Lena interrupted, and her mother stopped short with a huff. “I’ve heard your views about it a billion times. I get it, mom. You don’t like Superman.”

“And I don’t like his half-cocked counterpart running around here,” Lillian retorted. “That’s why I’m warning you to stay away, Lena. Nothing good can come from going after that vigilante.”

“Whatever you say, _mother,_ ” Lena grumbled, hoping her mother would take the hint and drop the subject. Her mother gave her a sharp glance, but when Lena refused to meet it, her eyes drifted back to the road, and the drive trailed off into a flat silence - not tense, but not exactly pleasant either.

Meanwhile, Lena’s thoughts were running a mile a minute. Why did her mother seem so sure that Lena was desperate to find the vigilante? As if she suspected that Lena knew something about the mysterious woman who had saved her life. 

Well, maybe she did know something - or at least, she had theories. And Lillian was right in the Lena would not give up investigating the vigilante’s identity - not when there were so many aggravating clues floating _just_ out of her grasp.

So why did she get the feeling that her mother knew something that she didn’t?

***

Once they arrived at the house, Lillian pulled up to the curb in order to drop Lena off. However, she herself made no move to leave the car. Her daughter paused once she realized that Lillian hadn’t even unbuckled her seatbelt, and gave her mother a questioning look.

“I’m leaving immediately for work,” Lillian answered curtly. “I’m late enough as it is, so take your things and head inside.”

At the abrupt dismissal, Lena shot her a nasty glare, and rather than saying goodbye, snatched her bag from the floor of the car and slammed the door behind her. Lillian watched her go, and let out a sigh, pinching her nose.

Oh well. That’s how it often went with teenagers. 

As soon as Lena disappeared into the house, Lillian pulled away from the curb and onto the road. With one hand on the wheel, she tapped a number into her phone, and as it dialed, connected the device to the car speakers. Immediately, the sound of a phone ringing echoed throughout the vehicle.

Lowenstein picked up on the third ring. “Hello, Lillian.” His voice came filtered and staticky through the speakers.

“Lowenstein, good.” Lillian spoke with both hands on the wheel, glancing at her mirror as she turned the corner. “You said you wanted to talk to me, just before Lena’s unfortunate incident. Said you had something to tell me.”

“Oh, yeah, of course.” His voice rose excitedly, crackling with static. “Lena okay, by the way? It sounded pretty serious.”

“She’s fine,” Lillian answered dismissively. “As rude and contrary as ever, so I’m certain no damage was done to her head. Now what is it you had to tell me?”

Lowenstein chuckled at her response. “That’s good to hear,” He said. “Now, about that news - you know the license plate you wanted me to run?”

Lillian’s breath caught. “You found the owner?” 

“Yep. One Susan Schott, forty-four years old, and definitely not the kid I was following from the train tracks.”

Lillian felt a bubble of annoyance building in her chest. “So then who was it?”

“Her son. Winn Schott, nineteen years old, kind of geeky, goes to National City University. He matches the profile of the driver exactly, but I don’t think he’s the vigilante.”

“Of course not,” Lillian said in a snappish voice, her impatience getting the best of her. “We both know our vigilante is female. My daughter even confirmed it this morning, after the incident. So is that all you managed to bring me?”

“No,” Lowenstein snorted, but there was an undercurrent of annoyance in his tone. “You know I wouldn’t come to you with a half-finished job. I did a quick search of his friends to see if he had anyone that matched our description. It didn’t take long - the kid’s kind of geeky, like I said, and I don’t think he’s very popular.”

“Alright,” Lillian said, and took in a deep breath. Lowenstein had a tendency to ramble in a gloating way when he had a particularly juicy discovery for her; it was annoying, but best to let him get it out of his system. “So did you find our vigilante?”

“I did,” He said, his tone positively smug. “An exact match. I’m going to send you her picture, so you can see what I’m talking about.”

“What’s her name?” Lillian asked, just as her phone dinged with the incoming picture. She pulled over to the side of the road so as to open up the image, just as Lowenstein’s voice again came crackling through the speakers.

“- pretty easy to find, actually. These kids should be more careful with social media.” Apparently he hadn’t heard the question.

“Lowenstein, what’s the girl’s name?” Lillian asked again, annoyance creasing her tone. She put her car in park, and swiped his message open. The picture loaded, just as Lowenstein’s voice came back with the answer. 

“- Kara I said, her name’s Kara Danvers. Lillian, you hear me? I think I have bad reception.” His voice faded in and out of the static, but Lillian wasn’t listening. Her gaze was frozen on the picture of the girl staring up at her; glasses, blonde hair, and a wide grin - the same profile picture she had seen weeks ago, when she’d investigated her daughter’s unfortunate school associations.

They were one and the same. Kara, Lena’s friend, and Kara Danvers, the masked vigilante, were the same dangerous individual.

_Or alien,_ a voice whispered at the back of her head, _doesn’t she have superpowers?_

Lillian’s blood ran cold.

Lowenstein was still desperately trying to reach her. She snatched up the phone, and barked, “I’ll call you back later,” before disconnecting the call. Then, her knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel, she threw the car into drive and peeled off of the curb, this time, not in the direction of work. At the next light, she made a u-turn, and pulled onto the highway, towards the direction that would take her to CADMUS.

She would have to shift her priorities temporarily, Lillian realized as she pressed on the gas. The larger attacks would have to remain on schedule - it was too late to change them, anyway, since the first was due next week - but now she had another, worrying, variable. The reappearance of the vigilante had been a slight cause for concern, but the vigilante’s proximity to her daughter was another matter entirely.

Lillian always knew that she had a cold nature. She did not show her love in the typical ways, with an excess of hugs and affection, like some other mothers. However, that was not to say that Lillian was void of affection for her daughter. Just the opposite; as rude and sullen as her teenage daughter could be, Lillian was determined to keep her safe in any way that she knew how.

And well, if Lena’s safety meant that Kara Danvers would have to be disposed of, then so be it.


	13. Aftermath...part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys.....it's been a long time. Like almost two months. And it probably seemed like I was abandoning this story, but I'm back to assure you that's not the case. I've just been busy with real life stuff, and I've had a hell of a time with this chapter. I think I rewrote it about five times. I actually, in an attempt to overcome my writer's block, skipped ahead and worked on the next chapter, which I ended up finishing, but wasn't able to post, because I still hadn't written this chapter. So the downside is it took me forever to write this. The upside is that the next chapter is completely written and almost completely edited, so will probably be out in the next couple days. And it is, in my opinion, a far more interesting chapter than this one.

Alex was waiting for her when she got home. 

Kara heard her heartbeat pounding a good three blocks away, angry and frantic, but she was too weary to realize just which part of the apartment the sound emanated from. The way she had left Lena - cradling an injured hand with the remains of a clear crime scene scattered around her - was still haunting Kara, sending a tide of guilt through her body, which ebbed and flowed before settling heavily in her stomach. 

Her chest was burning from the shot she had taken and her muscles were strumming with a shaky adrenaline, and no matter how fast she flew, she couldn’t shake the images from her head. The betrayal shining in Lena’s eyes as she stormed out of Kara’s apartment, her cry of pain as the energy beam struck her skin, the accusatory, scrutinizing look she’d leveled at Kara, at the sunglasses that she’d been _stupid_ enough to wear -

It was too much to think about. All she wanted to do was sleep.

Kara didn’t realize how fast she was going until she nearly crashed into her apartment building. So preoccupied were her thoughts that she’d long since stopped regulating her speed, streaking across the sky so fast that she was dangerously close to creating a sonic boom.

Her eyes widened as the apartment building loomed suddenly in front of her, and she screeched to a halt, or tried to, and only succeeded in slowing herself enough to avoid crashing straight through the wall and out the other side.

As it was she nearly tore the window frame out of the wall as she tumbled inside, skidding to a halt just before she plowed through her bed, and stopping only with the help of her wooden bedpost, which promptly crumbled to dust under her overly-strong grip.

Kara stumbled for a moment before freezing, as she stared down at the crushed wood under her hand. Her heart was still pounding, and her whole body felt numb, disjointed. As she slowly uncurled her fingers, sending a rain of splinters towards the floor, she realized she was trembling. 

A cough, too loud, pierced her eardrums, and she spun around, to where Alex stood leaning against the doorframe, her arms crossed and her eyes sparking with undisguised fury.

“Nice landing,” she said coolly, but the tension coiled in her muscles and the hard set of her jaw betrayed her fury. It radiated off her in waves, and Kara tensed, immediately, instinctively defensive. Alex’s gaze raked over her, and she arched one eyebrow. “You gonna take that ridiculous costume off before we talk?”

Kara’s face flushed from embarrassment at the cutting remark, and slowly she reached up to remove her disguise. She tossed the sunglasses onto her desk before reaching up again to pull off the ski mask, which she dropped onto her rumpled bed sheets. She didn’t bother with the hoodie, torn and scorched as it was, and instead stood under Alex’s gaze, her stomach curling in on itself as she felt her sister’s bitter disappointment wash over her. Somehow, it was worse than she’d imagined.

“I -“ she began, but Alex plunged in immediately, cutting off her explanation before she could even start.

“You know what? Don’t even start with the excuses - I don’t care. I don’t want to hear about how you’re meant to be a superhero, or you want to be just like Clark, or any of that _bullshit!_ ” Her voice grew louder and angrier with each word, and Kara flinched at the burgeoning intensity. “Instead, how about you just tell me what on earth could be important enough for you to warrant breaking our deal? Because Kara, it better have been _pretty. damn. good._ ”

Kara stared at her blankly. A shaky exhaustion was starting to creep up on her, muddling her thoughts. Alex still stood leaning against the doorway, face hard as she waited for her explanation. Kara opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it again, unsure what to say. A spark of annoyance began to rise in her. She knew she had messed everything up - why did Alex have to come and rub it in? Why did it have to be right now? Why couldn’t she just leave Kara alone, for _once?_

She still hadn’t spoken, and Alex was getting more and more impatient.

“Well?” she asked, and pushed off from the doorway, stepping closer. “What? No more excuses?”

The last words were spit sarcastically, and the spark of annoyance in Kara morphed into a hot flame of anger.

“Maybe I don’t feel like explaining myself right now,” she said defiantly. “I’m tired. We can talk about it tomorrow.”

The last words were true, for a heavy exhaustion was starting to creep up over Kara, a combined effect of her fading adrenaline and frayed emotional state.

Alex’s expression changed, incredulous disbelief replacing the anger - for the most part. “Oh, okay. So you’re just going to show up in the middle of the night, after you’ve _clearly_ been fighting, and _ignore this conversation?_ ”

She shook her head, as if she couldn’t even fathom the depths of Kara’s disrespect. “Nope. Sorry sis, not gonna happen. We’re doing this now.”

Anger began to build in Kara’s stomach, before bubbling up into her chest. She balled her hands tightly into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

“Oh yeah?” She asked hotly, and a whiff of icy condensation puffed out with the words. “How’re you gonna make me?”

To her supreme surprise, the words didn’t affect her sister the way she’d intended. Rather than getting angry, Alex simply raised one eyebrow, a smug smirk settling across her features as she jabbed a thumb towards the open window. Kara twisted around, dread suddenly sinking into her stomach. There was no way….she wouldn’t have called…

But as she squinted out the window, casting her hearing out through the night sky, her heart plunged to her toes - because there, whistling through the sky and drawing ever closer, was the steady and familiar heartbeat of her cousin.

Kara’s jaw dropped in pure indignation, and she whirled back around to face Alex, who was looking at her with the smug expression of somebody who had clearly just won the argument.

“You called _Clark?_ ” She asked incredulously, disbelief and anger dancing in her eyes. Alex simply shrugged, and clucked her tongue.

“Well, you don’t ever listen to me,” she answered, with a cheer in her tone that was aggravatingly false. “I thought if he came to tell you what I’ve been saying, maybe you’d actually listen for once.”

Kara ground her teeth. “This is _not_ fair,” she hissed. Heavy clouds of frozen air now spilled freely with her words, filling the room with icy mist. “I thought - I thought -“

“Thought _what_ , Kara?” Alex stepped forward, her eyes blazing once again. “That I was just gonna let you sneak around behind my back, and lie to my face? And that I’d just let it happen, until you went and got hurt - or worse? Kara, you know I love you, but I also have a _responsibility_ , which you seem to enjoy throwing in my face!”

“I thought - “ she stammered again, the words choking in her throat with thick betrayal. “I thought you were on my side! That for once, you would actually let me explain, and - well, I guess it doesn’t matter, because you _never listen to me!_ ”

The outburst seemed to take Alex aback, for some of the sharpness slid from her tone, and her expression softened ever so slightly, before she pulled it back into a hard look.

“I do lis - the only reason I don’t listen to you is because you give me the same damn excuse every time!” she sounded more frustrated than angry, but there was still a cut to her tone that Kara couldn’t ignore. “It’s all about ‘oh it’s my destiny’ and ‘I need to be a superhero right now’, but you’re nineteen, Kara! You don’t understand how dangerous it is out there!”

“I’m invincible,” Kara shot back, and Alex sighed. Her sister wasn’t getting it. She never got it.

“I don’t know about that.” There was a rustle of wind, and Alex raised her eyebrows as Kara whirled around, waiting until her back was turned to let her shoulders sag with relief.

Clark stood next to the window, leaning against the wall with an affected airiness that seemed to come so smoothly to him at all times. He regarded Kara sternly, before his gaze shifted to Alex, and his face relaxed into a warm smile.

“Hi Alex,” he addressed her, and she nodded in reply, crossing her arms across her chest, before his gaze slid back to Kara, and his smile disappeared into a frown. “Hi cuz.”

“Hi, _Kal El_ ,” Kara spat. It was clear from the hostility in her tone that she was not in the mood to play niceties. “Heard my sister doesn’t know how to keep her mouth shut.”

“Hey!” Alex interjected, and then fell silent as Clark cast a look between them. “Don’t be rude,” she hissed at Kara, before turning to Clark. “And thanks for coming.”

Clark just dipped his head in acknowledgment, before turning calmly to face his cousin, studiously pretending to ignore the way she was clearly seething.

“Kara, don’t get mad at your sister,” he chided gently, though it seemed to have no effect; she simply balled her fists tighter, her knuckles turning white. “She did the right thing in telling me about this.”

“Yeah, agree to disagree,” she tossed out with forced casualness, flicking her head far too aggressively to accompany the movement. “This has nothing to do with you, _cuz_. I don’t see how it’s fair that get to control my life all the way from Metropolis. Don’t you have a job to do? Two, even?”

Clark ignored the weak jab and straightened up from where he leaned against the wall, letting his cape fall down freely against his back, no longer bunched up against the wall. “You think I can’t take some time out of my schedule to see my only cousin?”

Kara snorted derisively at the words. “Oh yeah, that’s exactly why you decided to fly all the way here in the middle of the night,” she spat sarcastically. “Definitely not because Alex doesn’t trust me to take care of myself, or anything like that.”

“That’s not _true_.” Alex shot her a furious look, but Kara ignored it, her gaze leveled on Clark, who held up his hands in what was meant to be a calming gesture.

“Alright, Kara, so I’ll admit I came specifically because Alex called me,” he said, reaching up to run a hand through his hair, in a way that was eerily similar to Kara. Somehow, the movement left his signature curl untouched. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to see you - and it doesn’t meant that I don’t have the right to worry about you, too.”

“Worrying about me is one thing,” Kara told him, and crossed her arms across her chest. “But you guys don’t have to gang up on me just because I do something you don’t agree with! I’m _nineteen_ , and anyway, I’m older than you, remember?”

Clark nodded gravely, though it was apparent from his expression that he was unconvinced. “Yes, but you’re still in the process of growing up. You still have so many human experiences ahead of you. Why would you want to speed through them?”

Kara let out a massive groan, and reached up to run her fingers raggedly through her hair. “You two always throw the same speech at me! You’re always going on about human experiences like it’s some great thing, but what’s so great about college? All I do is study stuff I already know, when I _could_ be out saving people’s lives, and actually making a difference!”

Clark shook his head slowly, unfazed by the outburst. “While I will admit that this city has a growing crime problem -”

“Which I _could_ help with,” Kara interrupted, but Clark ignored her.

“- that doesn’t mean you’re the solution to the problem,” he said gently, and held up a hand quickly at the mutinous outrage in Kara’s expression. “There are other people who can deal with the problem, and anyways Kara, you can’t just go diving rashly into crime-fighting. You need a suit, training, practice -”

“I _have_ practiced, no thanks to you,” Kara interjected hotly. “And anyways, maybe if you actually helped me, I could get all that stuff!”

Clark’s shoulders sagged, and Alex let out a sigh behind her, but they weren’t the gestures of defeat she had been hoping for. Instead the motions were filled with exasperation, and she could tell by the look in Clark’s eyes that he wasn’t going to budge.

“I’m not going to enable you,” he said softly, and Kara was about to respond, only to catch a look in his eye that stopped her retort before it left her tongue. His eyes glimmered with a deep, apprehensive sadness, and if she’d thought she was imagining the look in his eye, she definitely wasn’t imagining the tone of voice in the next words he said.

“It’s not just about you,” he said, shaking his head once more. “Kara, do you think I want to inflict upon you all the things I’ve had to deal with in my job? Pain, and terrible, awful sights, human and alien suffering? I believe in my choice, yes, but it was one I made much later in life than you. All I’m asking is for you to wait. Wait, and be sure.”

Kara stared at him, and only one thought managed to form in her head. It wasn’t fair. He wasn’t being fair, playing on wanting to protect her, giving her that sad look, the look of somebody who’s been the last of his kind for far too long, and couldn’t bear to return to that state again. It was a look she’d seen on her own face, and a feeling that had thrummed painfully in her own chest on a multitude of occasions, and it just _wasn’t fair_ that he was using it against her.

“That’s not fair,” she said at last, but it came out strangled, the note of protest in her tone weak. “You can’t use the “I’m too afraid to lose you’ card on me. Alex uses that one all the time, and it’s stupid. I’m old enough to make my own decisions.”

Clark stared at her in disbelief, and then let out a low chuckle. “Would you believe it if I told you that Lois uses that card on me?” he asked at last. Kara didn’t respond, but only glowered, her arms still folded across her chest. 

“Yeah, well we use it for a reason,” Alex chimed in behind her, and Kara turned slightly to turn her glower upon her. “And you can give me that look all you want Kara, but you’re still grounded, and I’m enforcing it this time. No friends over, back home by six every night, and you’re not going anywhere but class and back home - without using your powers, obviously.”

Kara cocked one eyebrow defiantly. “Oh, so how’re you gonna stop me?”

Alex didn’t waver. She raised one eyebrow in response, her face hard. “You think I can’t scare Winn, or any of your other friends off?”

Kara faltered at that, but only for a second. “You can’t stop me using my powers,” she retorted. “What if I need them?”

“You can manage without them, like any other human,” Clark answered her, and Kara cast her gaze back to him, her brow creasing with anger. “And I’ve already talked to Alex, and she’s agreed with me.”

He left the sentence at that, and Kara waited for a moment, half-confused, half-wary. “Agreed with what?” she asked at last, as the silence stretched into long seconds.

It was clear they had been waiting exactly for that moment. Clark cast a glance past Kara towards Alex, who gave a slight confirming nod, barely a lift of her chin. He returned it, before turning his gaze back to Kara.

“According to Alex, your nighttime activities have attracted...some unwelcome attention,” he admitted each word slowly, as if by placing them exactly in the right tone and sequence could he cushion the blow that was about to land. “From the police, and possibly other organizations, people we know little about. Enemies of mine as well, who would like nothing more than to see a Kryptonian dead, or captured.”

“I can protect myself,” Kara objected, but there was a note of hesitance in her delivery. 

“Maybe, but you can protect Alex as well?” Clark asked, and as Kara remained silent, continued. “We don’t want to put that weight on your shoulders, Kara, so we’ve agreed that if you attract any more attention, you and Alex will have to relocate.”

“What - _relocate?_ ” Kara’s jaw dropped open as she heard the words, and she snapped it shut again, her hands dropping to her sides, only to be balled into tight fists. “That’s - that’s completely unreasonable! All my friends are here! My school is here! My - Alex’s job is here!”

“That’s not a problem.” Alex shrugged dismissively. “With my medical background, it won’t be a problem to find another job. Obviously I don’t want to, but if it comes down to it….” she trailed off, letting the meaning dangle in the air. Kara gaped at her, flabbergasted, before swinging around to face Clark once more.

“You -” she jabbed a finger at his chest. “You’re such a jerk! You’re grounding me like this, just because I won’t do exactly what you two say! This is so - ugh!”

She spun around on her heel, her back to the two of them, and began throwing items angrily off of her bed. Clark and Alex looked at her for a minute, before their gazes turned towards each other. They exchanged a silent glance, and then at last Alex mouthed at him, “I think it went okay.”

“I can hear you,” Kara’s voice came without turning around, the words full of stinging resent. “Go away. I want to sleep, and I don’t want to talk to either of you.”

She continued to move items off of her bed, pushing papers, knicknacks, parts of her costume to the floor, as Alex and Clark wavered uncertainly behind her. At last Alex caught Clark’s eye and jerked her thumb towards the door, before turning it towards the window. He nodded, and she began to move towards the bedroom door, finally giving one last glance at the two of them, before slipping out into the hallway.

As soon as she made it, she let out a heavy sigh, and rubbed her hand wearily across her head. The whole night had been a disaster. First her date with Maggie, and now with Kara. She hated having to punish her, necessary as it was. Why couldn’t they just go back to the closeness they’d always shared, before she’d started all this hero nonsense? Why was she so damned eager to throw herself into danger?

Alex sighed again, and crossed the hall to her own door. She paused for a moment, listening for the sounds of the other two, but they must have been taking pains to be quiet, or maybe her hearing just wasn’t at alien strength, for she heard nothing. She waited a moment, straining to hear, and then gave up and crossed the threshold into her own room. Whatever follow up conversation they’d have to have, it would have to wait until morning. Kara needed sleep. She needed sleep.

Better just to let it go, for a little while.

Clark lingered for a few moments after Alex had slipped into the hallway, watching the back of his cousin. He felt he should say something, but he wasn’t sure what to say. He had never been good at this kind of stuff. He loved Kara deeply - they had the type of deep familial bond, instinctive to Kryptonians, that he’d never imagined he’d be able to have with another person. It was known, or at least Kara had explained to him, that Kryptonian family ties ran deeper than blood, deeper than anything.

But those feelings didn’t translate well into words, at least not for Clark. He found himself struggling with familial gestures, unsure where to pull back, where to be close. Maybe he was being overprotective, but all he really wanted was for her to wait, before she threw herself into danger. Was that really so much to ask?

He watched her, struggling with himself - should he say something? Or take her words at face value and just leave? - before he settled on a compromise, and reached out with a gentle hand to pat her shoulder. She stiffened at the touch, but didn’t turn around, and he froze, unsure what to do.

“I’m sorry it went like this,” he said at last, and let his hand hover for a moment, before drawing it back. “But I care about you, Kara. I just want you to be safe.”

There was a heavy pause, and then her shoulders sagged. “Just...go back to Metropolis, Kal El. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

Clark hesitated, and shuffled his feet uncertainly for a moment, before at last giving a stiff nod, though she couldn’t see it. “Alright. Good night, Kara.”

Kara listened to the sound of his breathing, the rustling of his cape as he moved towards the window. She held her breath, waiting for the telltale flutter of air, and released it only once she felt the small breeze that ruffled through her hair, indicating her cousin’s departure.

Only then did she let herself turn around and collapse onto her bed, burying her face in her hands as she began to cry.

***

Kara’s phone went off just as the first morning rays began to filter through her window. She recoiled at the sound, squeezing her eyes shut, and groped blindly for the offending noise. It took her three tries before she managed to put it on snooze, only to realize that her alarm hadn’t been ringing at all. The sound had been her ringtone, and she had just opened the call.

As if on queue, Winn’s voice came frantic over the line. “Kara? Are you there? I saw you answered! Don’t just ignore me!”

She sighed and closed her eyes, and briefly considered hanging up. She didn’t want to be dragged into consciousness, where she’d be forced to start thinking about all the consequences she would have to deal with from the night before - not to mention Alex’s punishment, and Clark’s looming threat. Somehow, crying hadn’t fixed any of her problems, and the harsh light of day was doing little to throw them in a better light. Her first class wasn’t for another two hours, and the idea of just shutting out Winn and the rest of the world until then was extremely tempting.

But Winn was her friend, and he deserved an explanation. So she rolled over and brought the phone to her ear, wincing as her friend’s steady stream of admonitions grew louder with the proximity.

“Can you talk quieter?” She asked, squinting blearily against the early morning light.

“You can’t just ignore - oh, you picked up,” He said, his tirade ending abruptly as he registered her voice. Then, with only a fraction of a pause, he jumped into a new rant entirely.

“Kara, _why didn’t you tell me?_ ” He hissed, annoyance coloring his tone - but there was a dash of that excitement he could never entirely conceal when talking about her superheroing antics.

She knew exactly what he was talking about, but she asked anyway. “What do you mean?”

“I’m gonna kill you.” Even through the phone, she could hear him gritting his teeth. His tone was so serious, that for a moment Kara could almost believe him. “You went and stopped a crime, and you _didn’t even tell me?_ What about our training? What about our pact? I’m your man in the chair, Kara! You can’t do this stuff without me!”

“It wasn’t like that,” She began, and then stopped, and switched tracks. “No, you’re right. I should’ve called you.”

“Damn right you should have,” Winn replied, but his tone softened at the apology. “I saw the newspapers this morning. Why didn’t you call me? I could have helped!”

“I know,” She groaned, and rubbed a hand over her eyes, trying to wake herself up. “Listen, Winn - I really messed up last night. I gotta talk to you. Can we meet in like an hour at the library?”

“Of course,” Winn said, though she could hear the curiosity aching in his every word. “Why don’t I just come over now though? My first class isn’t until 10:30.”

Kara glanced at her bedside clock. 8:07. “No, we have to meet at campus. It’s a long story, but...I’m sort of grounded. I can’t have any friends over, or go anywhere besides school.”

“ _What?_ ” Winn yelped, and she could have hugged him for the righteous indignation in his voice. “Kara, she can’t do that! It’s barbaric, and anyway, how is she gonna enforce it?”

“Mmm,” Kara mumbled in agreement. Of course it was unfair, but after the argument last night, she couldn’t summon the energy to discuss it. “If I break it, she’ll just call my cousin, and then he’ll put a stop to me for good.”

“Oh.” There was a pause, as the thought sunk in, and then Kara heard him nod in agreement. “Okay. That’s a problem. It’s fine though - we’ll just meet at school, like you said. At the library?”

“Yeah,” Kara replied, and glanced at the clock again. “9 o’clock good for you?”

“Duh,” Winn answered, and this time he wasn’t bothering to hide his eagerness. “And you’re gonna tell me everything, so _don’t be late_.”

“I won’t, I won’t,” She grumbled into the speaker, but there was nothing but an affirmative grunt on the other end before he clicked off. She let the phone drop onto the pillow, and burrowed back into the sheets. It was tempting to steal another few minutes of unconsciousness before she would have to face the world, but she knew that to drift back to sleep would mean she wouldn’t wake up for another few hours, at least. 

So she sighed and propped herself up into a sitting position, blinking away the groggy sleep in her eyes, as she took in the room. Her face felt puffy from crying, and she figured she probably looked as terrible as her room, which resembled the aftermath of a tornado - thanks, in no small part, to the angry way she’d tossed everything on the floor in an attempt to ignore Alex and Clark. The articles of her costume were still scattered across the room, a stark reminder of the disaster the night before, and she frowned unhappily at the sight. There was a faint charred smell too, lingering from the burnt sweatshirt.

There were too many reminders of the night before, and so Kara spent a good thirty minutes cleaning the room, expunging the evidence of all that occurred, until at last she was satisfied that her room had been restored to its former state of cleanliness. Something about the process made her feel better, as if the ability to wipe away the dirt and soot from the fight would somehow translate into some sort of solution to her problems.

It was only when she at last stood dressed and ready to go that Kara remembered that she wasn’t allowed to fly. She cursed, and glanced at her watch. 9:45. She was going to be late.

She _could_ fly. Alex wasn’t around to see her. Nobody was around to see her. She could make it to school in five minutes, and no one would be the wiser. 

Except that Alex would definitely figure it out, and now the consequences, unfair as they might be, were too enormous to ignore. Kara sighed. Whatever they had taught her sister in the FBI, apparently those skills were extremely transferable towards her role as obnoxious older sister.

It was nearly twenty minutes past ten by the time she finally burst through the library doors, her backpack half-sliding off one shoulder as annoyance crinkled her brow. Winn was waiting for her with raised eyebrows and an impatient expression, fingers tapping against the table he had claimed by the quieter stacks. Kara gave him an apologetic smile as she slid into the seat next to him.

“Forgot the bus,” She said by way of explanation, and then, when Winn shot her an inquisitive look, clarified. “Forgot I had to take it.”

“Right…” Winn said doubtfully, and then pushed the matter aside, leaning forward eagerly. “So - tell me everything. What happened? Why are you grounded? Did you -” his voice dropped to a loud whisper “- Stop a crime?”

“Yeah, sort of,” Kara whispered back to him, excitement gleaming briefly in her eyes before dropping away swiftly. It was replaced by a dejected look. “But that’s the thing - it was kind of my fault. See, I had my date with Lena -”

“Oh my god I forgot!” Winn interrupted excitedly. “How did it go? Did you guys -?”

He made a crude motion with his fingers, and Kara stared, uncomprehendingly. She thought the motion was meant to represent some sort of sexual position, but from the looks of it, it didn’t look like Winn even knew what it was supposed to be.

“ _No_ ,” She said swiftly, cutting off his next over-exuberant question. “Gross, Winn! No, we kissed, but then after I found out that her last name was Luthor -”

“Wait wait wait.” Winn held up a hand. “Rewind. Go back. Lena is Lena _Luthor?_ And you _kissed_ her?”

Kara flushed. “Well, yeah, but she kissed me first. And then - _will you stop interrupting?_ ”

Winn had opened his mouth for another interjection, but at her complaint he pressed it shut again, before apparently changing his mind. “Actually, no! Kara, you’re terrible at telling stories! You skip over all the best parts.”

Kara scowled at him. “Do you want to hear it or not?”

“Obviously,” Winn answered in an annoyed whisper. “But you gotta give me some time to process.”

There was a pause. Seconds ticked past. Winn glared determinedly at Kara, who continued to scowl. 

Finally she growled. “Was that enough processing time for you?”

Winn stared at her in disbelief, and then answered with a dramatic eye roll. “I don’t know. Was that enough sarcasm for you?”

_“Wiiiin.”_

“Okay, fine!” Winn huffed. “Fine, fine. Continue your extremely lacking narrative.” 

Kara gave him another severe look, and before launching at last into the rest of the story. However, heeding Winn’s requests, she forced herself to slow down and organize her jumbled thoughts so as to tell the story in a somewhat linear fashion, as Winn listened with ever-growing interest. 

When at last she finished, following the better part of an hour, Kara leaned tiredly back in her seat, a tentative feeling of relief easing over her. It felt good to spill the entire story to somebody who actually wanted to hear it, and not just to punish her. Winn had listened with wide eyes throughout, interjecting only a few questions after his first interruption, and when she at last finished, he let out a long, low whistle. 

“Wow Kara, you really decided to go big or go home,” He said, and leaned against the table, letting his elbows splay out lazily, as he gave her a thoughtful look. “So lemme get this straight. You made out with Lena. And then you totally rejected -“ 

“ _Accidentally_ rejected -“ 

“- _Accidentally_ totally rejected her,” Winn corrected. “And then she got so upset she left, and because of _that_ got attacked by criminals, so you had to save her, and then she figured out your secret identity. Did I get it all?” 

“She didn’t _figure out_ my identity,” Kara said sulkily. “She only got a little suspicious, but I left before she got a close look.” 

“Oh right,” Winn added, rather superiously. “And then you left her to deal with the cops. I forgot about that part.” 

Kara scowled at him. With every blunt sentence she had sunk deeper and deeper into her seat, her expression turning more and more morose. 

“I know I handled it badly,” She grumbled. Her voice was sour. “You don’t have to rub it in.” 

“Sorry,” Winn said, his voicing dropping into sincerity. He hesitated, and then gave Kara a friendly shove. “But you’ll do better next time. I’m sure of it, actually, because I’ve been working on a ton of cool gadgets that can help us.” 

Kara looked at him, torn. “Yeah, about that -“ 

“Oh no.” Winn shook his head vigorously and held his hand up, cutting her off. “No way. Kara, you promised we’d do this together.” 

She hesitated. “I know, it’s just that -“ 

“You. Promised.” 

“I know!” She burst out, frustrated. “Winn, I’m not trying to keep you out of it! It’s not related to you at all! It’s just that, ever since we’ve started, and now even more since last night, I just..I don’t know.” 

“Don’t know what?” Winn asked, and leaned back in his chair, his anxious expression having eased at Kara’s reassurance. “What happened?” 

“I keep messing up, is what happened!” She snapped, louder than she’d intended. A loud shush came from a librarian shelving books, and Kara cringed, before sending her an apologetic look. Once the librarian looked back towards her work, she continued, her voice dropping to a loud whisper. 

“I mean, I know this is what I want to do,” She whispered dejectedly. Winn nodded almost reverently at the words. “I can’t just ignore all the innocent people out on the street, and all the crime that’s been happening. But every time I try and do that, I either mess up, or get Alex and Clark mad at me, and it _sucks,_ Winn. Did I tell you Alex made Clark come to yell at me too? _Clark._ ” 

“Yeah, you mentioned.” Winn nodded sympathetically. “And well, being a hero is a hard job.” 

“I _know,_ ” She huffed in frustration, and slumped back in her seat. “But Clark never made all these mistakes! He never got people injured by accident, or had the police trying to stop him. And now he comes all the way here to lecture me, and - maybe he’s right, you know? Maybe I shouldn't be trying to be a superhero. Maybe I’m just putting people in danger for no reason.” 

“Whoa whoa whoa,” Winn said, and gave her a severe look. “Kara, seriously? Stop being such a baby!” 

She blinked at him, startled. “Hey - I am _not_ -” 

But Winn hadn’t finished. He plowed past her, unhearing. “One little rescue, and you’re just gonna give up like that? Just because Alex and Clark got mad at you? That’s the dumbest excuse I ever heard!” 

Kara flushed hotly, and jerked up straight in her seat. “I am _not_ giving up!” 

Winn raised an eyebrow, a mocking challenge across his face. “So why do you wanna call it quits?” 

“Because I’m not _good enough at it!_ ” She hissed fiercely, and leaned forward. “Last night, I went out to save Lena even though I promised Alex I wouldn’t, even though I knew it wasn’t a good idea -” 

“You were gonna leave her to get attacked?” 

“Of course not!” Kara shot back heatedly, and then stopped, caught off guard. In truth, it was the same justification she’d told herself as she’d leapt out her window on her way to Lena’s defense, but somehow, in all of the trouble that had happened afterwards, and with all the heated words that had passed between her and Alex and Clark, she had forgotten just how urgent the decision had seemed at the time. The thought made her pause. Despite the iffy way Kara had handled the rescue, could she have been sure that somebody else would have gotten there in time? 

Probably not. 

Winn was watching her with one eyebrow raised, and a smug grin on his face, so she backtracked. “Okay, so maybe I didn’t really have a choice. But still, she got hurt, Winn! And then I panicked over her almost guessing my identity, so I left her for the police! How is any of that good?” 

“Okay, that was kind of dumb,” Winn answered, and when Kara shot him a glowering look, turned defensive. “Hey, just telling how it is! So yeah, you made a few mistakes, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on everything. You gotta keep trying, and keep _training_.” 

“Yeah, if I stop being grounded anytime soon,” Kara grumbled, and then sighed. “I don’t know, Winn. Clark and Alex told me that if I draw more attention to myself, we’ll have to relocate. I can’t do that! I don’t want to leave school, or Lena, or - you!” 

“Thanks,” Winn said. “And wow. That’s...more serious than I thought.” 

Kara gave him another sulky look. “See? I’m out of options.” 

“That’s not true,” He said, his tone filling with exasperation. “That’s probably an empty threat, anyway. The police are no closer to guessing your secret identity than - well, anyone. They have nothing to go on, and if they did, they would have figured it out by now.” 

“Maybe,” Kara responded reluctantly. She began to twist one foot, anxiously toeing a hole in the carpet. At last she spoke again, still staring at the garishly patterned carpet. 

“I still have to lay low though. I can’t risk Alex finding out about our training.” 

“Yeah, of course,” Winn answered automatically, as if the fact that they were going to continue her training was the most obvious thing in the world. “For a few weeks, right? Until it all blows over. I mean, you’re definitely needed. Who else is going to help fight the alien menace? Uh, no offense.” 

“None taken,” She waved her hand dismissively, and then shifted in her seat, still seemingly unsure. “I just...you really think I can do all this? That I’m even doing the right thing here? I hate going behind Alex’s back, Winn. I _hate_ it.” 

Winn nodded, taking a second to absorb the statement before framing his response. “Okay, so obviously I’m a little biased about whether you’re making the right choice, since I think it’s super cool that I get to train a superhero. But that doesn’t mean Clark and Alex aren’t biased in the other direction, too.” 

Kara’s brow crinkled as she frowned at the statement. She leaned back in her chair, pondering the words. “You think?” 

Winn let out a snort. “Please, you’re pretty much invincible. For somebody whose skin can’t even be penetrated, the amount of worrying Alex does over your physical well-being is way out of proportion.” 

Kara groaned at the mention of her older sister, but this time there was an undertone of relief following Winn’s agreement. “That’s exactly what I’ve been saying! Obviously I don’t want to get her in trouble, but all she worries about is me getting hurt - as if that were even physically possible.” 

Winn splayed his hand out, twisting the palm towards her, in a gesture that read ‘see?’ Kara looked at him for a moment, and then at last cracked a real smile, and he returned one of his own. “So, have my words of wisdom brought you back from the dark side?” 

“Maybe,” She allowed, but even Winn could sense the change in her tone. The look of miserable defeat in her eyes had faded somewhat; he could see some of her old eagerness returning, the same excitement he had gotten used to seeing every day on the train tracks. His grin grew wider, and he opened his mouth to respond, but Kara beat him to it. 

“The problem is, how am I supposed to train if I’m grounded?” 

Winn paused in his next words, temporarily stumped. “I don’t know,” He admitted. “But we’ll figure it out. Did they say how long you’d be grounded for?” 

Kara shook her head despondently. “They were pretty vague on purpose, I think.” 

“Hmm,” Winn hummed, his expression thoughtful. “Okay, well maybe we’ll wait a few days, or weeks, for things to quiet down, and then see if Alex is still mad. I could use the time to finish up your suit, anyway.” 

At this Kara perked up, all signs of her earlier reluctance having vanished - or at least, faded for the time being. It was replaced with a spark of excitement. “It’s almost done? Can I see it?” 

“Not yet,” Winn said. There was an aggravatingly teasing note in his tone, and Kara frowned sulkily. “You’re taking forever, you know.” 

“Well maybe that’s a good thing, since you keep wanting to hang up the cape every ten seconds. Seriously, does Superman have this kind of doubt? Is it a family thing?” 

“So there is a cape,” Kara said triumphantly, and Winn groaned. 

“I didn’t say that!” 

“You implied it.” 

“It was a metaphor, that doesn’t mean I’m going to add a cape -” 

“Okay, but could you?” 

Winn balked. “What? No, Kara, capes are lame.” 

“They’re aerodynamically important,” She argued. “Why do you think my cousin never crashes on sharp turns?” 

“ _You_ don’t crash on sharp turns,” He countered, eyebrows raised. 

Kara shrugged. “I did, once. Now I don’t go so fast.” 

“Oh.” This seemed to give him pause. “Okay. I guess that makes sense.” However, he couldn’t quite get rid of the whining note in his tone when he said, “But let the record show that I did not go along with this willingly.” 

Kara rolled her eyes. “Don’t be such a drama queen.” 

“Um, hey, it’s drama _king_ , thank you very much. And anyway - “ Whatever tirade he was about to launch into was stopped, suddenly, by the raucous buzzing of a phone against the table’s surface. Winn broke off and patted his pockets automatically, before glancing at the offending object. “That’s yours, right? Mine’s in my pocket.” 

Kara immediately snatched the phone off the table, though not before sending yet another apologetic glance at the irritated librarian. “It must be Alex, I bet she’s checking to see if I’m…” 

She trailed off without finishing the sentence, and her eyes grew wide as she stared at her lock screen. The phone continued to buzz insistently. “...It’s Lena.” 

“What?” Winn craned his neck forward to see as well, only to confirm what Kara had said. He looked between her and the phone, still clasped frozen in her hand. She made no move to answer the call. 

“She wants to talk...to me?” The question didn’t seem to be directed at anybody in particular, and it hung in the air, heavy with incredulity. 

“Apparently,” Winn said, his voice think with impatience, and snapped his fingers at Kara. “Well, what are you waiting for? Pick up before it goes to voicemail.” 

“Huh?” She asked, and seemed to jolt out of the reverie she had been placed in. She glanced at him unfocusedly, and then back at her phone, and suddenly seemed to absorb his words. “Oh, right! 

The phone buzzed again as she fumbled with the lock screen, but cut off almost immediately as she at last accepted the call and brought the phone up to her ear. 

“Hi Lena,” She said breathlessly, and Winn, watching, nearly choked as he swallowed a snort of laughter. He was probably one of the few people that knew first hand just how much power Kara had at her fingertips - and it was extremely entertaining to watch it all crumble in the face of a certain pretty girl. 

Kara shot him a glare and he buttoned his lips, though a smirk still played at the corners of his mouth as he leaned forward to shamelessly eavesdrop. With the close proximity, he could just make out Lena’s words. 

_“Hi Kara. Are you busy right now?”_

“Um, busy?” She glanced at Winn, who shook his head and shooed her off with a flutter of his hands. “Uh, actually no. Which is great timing because...I wanted to talk to you.” 

_“Me too.”_ There was a moment’s pause on the line, and Kara gave Winn an uncertain smile, who responded with his own enthusiastic thumbs up. Her smile widened, just as Lena’s voice flickered back on the line. 

_“Are you on campus? Because I just got here, and I want - I have to talk to you before my first class.”_

Kara’s eyes widened at the correction, as did Winn’s and they exchanged a questioning look before Kara responded. “Yeah - yeah, I’m just in the library with Winn. Do you want to come here?” 

As soon as the words left her mouth, she could sense the hesitation on Lena’s end, and wanted to smack herself for her own stupidity. Even Winn was vigorously shaking his head no. 

Luckily, Lena recovered before she could stick her foot back in her mouth. _“Actually, I’d sort of prefer it if you could come to me. I’m on, um…”_ She trailed off for a moment, and a brief pause fell over the line. _“I’m in an empty classroom in the art building. Room 805.”_

Kara frowned in confusion. “What are you doing in the art building?” 

_“Just come, okay?”_ Her voice had gone hard, but there was a nervous breathlessness to her tone that Kara barely had time to consider before the line went dead. Winn stared at her in confusion. 

“She’s in the art building?” He shook his head, puzzled. “I mean, I don’t know much about Lena, but I’m pretty sure she’s never held a paintbrush in her life. Definitely not the artistic type.” 

“Yeah. Weird.” Kara nodded absently, frowning at her phone still gripped tightly in her hand. Winn glanced at her, and then at the clock, and sighed as he realized that, once again, he was going to have to take action. 

“Kara,” he prompted, and her gaze fell back to him. “Don’t you want to…” 

“Meet her?” she asked blankly, but there was a flicker of anxiety in her expression. “I don't know. Should I? Maybe it’s not the best idea.” 

“Yeah, but I have a feeling you’re less reluctant about the whole secret identity thing and more nervous about the ‘oh my god I accidentally rejected my crush last night and now she wants to talk’ thing,” Winn said impatiently, and as Kara hesitated, he rolled his eyes, and launched into action. Grabbing her bag from under the desk, he flung it into her lap, before pushing her out of the chair. Physically, his efforts really didn’t make that much of a difference, but she let herself be dragged to her feet anyway. 

“No, wait,” She hissed in a slightly panicky tone, clutching her bag as she shoved her phone into her pocket. Winn pushed her towards the door and she stumbled reluctantly ahead of him. “I mean what do I say? What if she asks me if I’m the vigilante?” 

“Just - play dumb!” He gasped, and finally stopped pushing her forward to wrench the door open. “Geez, Kara, you’re like a rock!” 

“I was letting you push me,” She grumbled at him, but stepped through the doorway, before pausing, and turning back towards him. “Winn, about what I was saying before - I’m still in, if you are. I’ll always be in. It’s what I want.” 

Winn gave her a grin. “Of course I’m in, Kara. You don’t have to ask. And anyways, you think I’m just gonna stop in the middle of designing your kickass suit?” 

“I hope not,” She laughed, and returned a relieved grin. “Besides, I don’t think I can do this alone.” 

“That’s why you have me,” Winn answered imperiously, and then gestured exasperatedly towards the hallway. “But if you don’t get going, you’re gonna have _just_ me, if you get my drift…” 

“Right,” Kara gulped, and gave Winn one last quick wave before spinning on her heel. “We’ll talk later!” She called over her shoulder, and Winn just threw up his hand in a friendly wave before turning back into the library, letting the door close behind him with a soft _click_. 

He grinned to himself as he made his way back to their abandoned table, ignoring the exasperated look the librarian directed at him once she saw that only half of the noisy duo had left. Winn didn’t notice, nor did he care, as he slid back into his seat and yanked a notebook out of his bag, along with his pen. 

No matter what Kara decided in the end - though he was still, and always would be, on the side of her heroics - he had made a promise to her, and it was a promise he planned on fulfilling. 

His friend was going to be a superhero, and she would need a suit. And, as much as Winn loathed to admit it, she would need a cape as well. So he clicked his pen, and flipped his notebook over to his most recent design. His brow furrowed in concentration and he leaned over the pages, intently focused. It was time to get to work. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey and I will admit was the other reason I've been so late with this chapter is I got completely and utterly hit in the face by Novitiate, which is a great movie if you like lesbian nuns. Or just nuns, or lesbians. Anyway that movie literally tore my heart to pieces and I couldn't write anything until I decided to get it off my chest and start writing Novitiate fanfic, which was a terrible idea because it's such a small fandom that there's literally no category for it on AO3. But I already wrote like, way too many words, and now I'm in way too deep. So I guess this is a roundabout way of saying I have no schedule for future updates on this fic, because I'm really distracted writing fic for a fandom that doesn't exist. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Anyway. This isn't related to this fic or Supergirl at all, but you should go watch that movie. Like, right now. It's really good.


	14. Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As promised, the next chapter, and much quicker in coming than the last one! Unfortunately, I still don't have the next chapter written as yet, and I'm working at the same time on some other projects, so I can't say when exactly it will be up, but I'm definitely aiming for *less* than two months.

It had been at least four minutes since her call to Kara. Four minutes, and Lena was so anxious that she was pretty sure she’d managed to wear a track in the nylon tiled classroom floor thanks to her obsessive pacing.

Somewhere around her twentieth lap, the thought stole across her mind that perhaps, just _perhaps_ , she was being a tad overdramatic. The thought made her pause in her pacing, and she considered it for a moment, before dismissing the idea and adding a loud scoff for good measure. Some hysterics were warranted, she felt, after the disastrous night she’d had - and that wasn’t even to mention the discoveries she’d made that morning, after her mother had dropped her off from the hospital. In fact, those discoveries were the whole reason for the ridiculous, half-cocked plan that she was about to execute, as soon as Kara arrived. It wasn’t a good plan, but it was the best she could come up with, running as she was on twenty minutes of sleep, three cups of coffee, and a jittering bucket of nerves - though the nerves might simply be an aftereffect of the coffee.

She just had to hope and pray that Kara would fall for her plan - because everything that came after would depend on her.

That is, if Lena was correct in her hypothesis - and she refused to consider the opposite. It was too embarrassing of a thought to entertain.

She could just imagine Kara’s reaction if she asked her the question that was plaguing her thoughts, the one that had been haunting her ever since she’d managed to put two and two together in the middle of brushing her teeth that morning. 

_Hey Kara, do you happen to run around at night in a Superman hoodie and a ski mask, fighting crime with your superpowers?_

It hadn’t been that hard to figure out. The sunglasses - _her_ sunglasses - the voice, even the way she’d reacted to Lena’s suspicion. With all the evidence staring Lena in the face, it took her no more than a shower, a fresh change of clothes, and a bit of time to clear her head before the realization struck her like a bolt of lightning. 

The problem was, even if she was right - and she _was_ , she _knew_ she was - Lena didn’t expect Kara to tell her the truth. After all, Lena didn’t have any proof, and Kara didn’t have any reason to trust her with that knowledge - _especially_ after what she’d revealed the night before, about her family.

In retrospect, Lena had to admit that Kara’s reaction to her family name made a lot of sense. If Kara wasn’t human, than it was only natural for her to fear the Luthor name. It still left an unpleasant sense of shame in her stomach, but that was something she could deal with later. They would have to talk, eventually, but not at the moment. Not now, when Lena’s thoughts were buzzing with a mixture of dread, adrenaline and guilt - adrenaline, because of her plan, guilt, because of how she meant to execute it, and dread, because of what she had discovered that morning. 

***

It was called CADMUS. 

After Lillian had dropped her off home, Lena had tried first to catch some sleep - only to find it impossible to drift off, her thoughts buzzing with the events of the night. Her arm itched and stung, and she felt grimy after the attack and her stint in the hospital. Her mother’s strange comments from the car ride sat with her, niggling at the back of her head, refusing to let her rest. Eventually, she gave up on sleep and dragged herself out of bed and to her laptop. Once there, she opened her computer and then paused, uncertain of what exactly she wanted to do. There was something suspicious nagging at her, but what? Her mother’s comments were strange, sure, but not unusually xenophobic - for her. However, there was also the matter of the weapon…

The frown which had settled into her face hardened into a look of determination, as a vague idea formed in her head. She knew what she wanted to look for. Keys began to clack, slowly at first, but then faster as her fingers flew across the keyboard, pausing every so often for a second, to think.

If there was anything about Lex’s weapon - its development, manufacturing, specs - then she would almost certainly find it in her mother’s files. Of course, her mother’s files were heavily encrypted and therefore impossible to access, or so Lillian probably assumed. Luckily, Lena was smart, and savvy - savvier than her mother thought. 

Lillian always did have a bad habit of underestimating her - and though Lena may have been adopted, she had more of the Luthor genius than her mother knew.

It took her well over an hour to find anything worthwhile. She was halfway through her second cup of coffee, her eyes bleary from shifting through endless files and documents, until she happened upon a folder, almost entirely missable, hidden within the depths of throwaway company files. The folder had heavy security, but Lena leaned in, the exhaustion vanishing from her eyes as she began to work her way past the various firewalls and defenses. It took some time, but at last she broke through, only to find herself looking at a sheath of files that had nothing to do with the company at all. 

They all had to do with something called CADMUS.

What was CADMUS? Lena frowned, and clicked on a random file. It showed a document, outlining some sort of bizarre alien weaponry, the likes of which she had never seen before. Her frown deepened, and she opened up another file, only to find more of the same. The fifth document revealed plans for the second alien weapon she’d encountered the night before, the one Lex hadn’t developed - except apparently, it had come from the brains of somebody in the Luthor family.

The sixth document was the one that changed everything. When Lena opened it, expecting to find more plans for alien weaponry, what she found instead was some sort of...manifesto. A pamphlet, almost, followed by what looked like a proposal. She read on, lines of confusion wrinkling her brow, as she tried to understand just what the proposal seemed to be suggesting. It appeared to be outlining some sort of attack. One that called for large amounts of alien weaponry, to be used on…

“Oh,” Lena whispered, and sunk back in her chair as she absorbed the words before her, lining out impassive instructions in the clinical language of a business plan - though it was anything but.

The weaponry was meant to be used on civilians. Specifically, large masses of civilians. Crowds, even.

The proposal was for a terrorist attack.

Lillian’s private files contained plans for a terrorist attack on National City.

A cold chill fell over Lena as the realization plunged through her chest. 

She read the document over and over again, back through the pamphlet, as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall into place, fitting together into harsh, undeniable, evidence. The more she read, the more she began to understand, to her growing horror, the extent of the threat laid out before her. CADMUS was a shadow organization, hidden under the wings of LuthorCorp, and run by none other than Lillian herself. The organization’s purpose, outlined in another report Lena found hidden in the folder, was the expulsion of all aliens from National City, and eventually, the country - no matter how many innocent lives were lost along the way.

Lena received the news like a slow-acting slap to the face. She read the offending documents once, and than over again, and felt her brain turning blank at the words, refusing to absorb the evidence staring her in the face. It was all far too preposterous to be believed. An anti-alien organization hidden under the family company? Run by her own mother? She wanted to scoff, wanted to laugh at the idea, except that the plans laid out before her dripped with the cold, calculating logic that only her mother could execute.

Her brain was refusing to cooperate, so Lena acted on autopilot, moving slowly, as if through water. She printed all the relevant documents, and then spent another hour carefully erasing her tracks, deleting all evidence of her foray into her mother’s secret files, along with the evidence that she’d used the family’s printer. It was a long process, and it gave her thoughts time to coagulate, until they formed into one clear, simple direction.

Her mother was the head of a xenophobic terrorist organization, and she was planning something that could put thousands of lives in danger.

And Lena had to stop it.

It was clear that she would have to do something. Lena knew it from the moment she understood the extent of the organization’s exploits. As far as she could tell, she was the only one outside of her mother’s organization who knew the truth - that the uptick in alien crime and the dissemination of alien weapons was all tied together under one grand scheme to drive the aliens out of National City, and possibly kill thousands in the process. The very thought made Lena sick to her stomach, and suddenly, she found herself unable to sit still. She reached out abruptly and closed her laptop shut, before lurching to her feet and staggering to the bathroom. 

She caught herself staring at her reflection in the mirror, fighting a wave of nausea. An absent minded part of her noted the bags under her eyes, and the haggard exhaustion in her gaze. Lena studied her reflection halfheartedly, unable to chase away the sense of dread and guilt that had coiled in the bottom of her stomach.

Her whole family was exactly the same. Lillian was just like Lex, except ten times worse - and how was Lena supposed to stop her? Going to the police was out; just a quick glance at the convoluted plans she’d found was enough to convince Lena that the entire city was pretty much under her mother’s thumb. The women had contacts everywhere, including the police station, and the minute Lena went public with her knowledge - the minute Lillian discovered what her daughter knew - was the minute that Lena would lose the fight.

And if Lillian was ready to sacrifice thousands of lives for her xenophobic scheme, what would she be willing to do to her daughter?

She was still restless, still jittery despite her exhaustion, and so for want of something to do, Lena began to brush her teeth. It was an automatic habit, calming in its normalcy, and it gave her mind space to breathe - space to think.

Lena would have to stop her mother by herself - except that she _couldn’t_. Sure, Lena knew that she was smart, and she knew that her mother tended to underestimate her - but those were the only two advantages she possessed. Her mother had years of experience in scheming and manipulating. If Lena wanted any chance at all of foiling her mother’s plans, she would have to recruit some sort of help.

But who?

_The vigilante._

_Kara._

The two thoughts collided together in her head, and she froze mid-brush, gripping her toothbrush so tightly that her knuckles turned white. It was like a smack to the head, a lightning bolt of clarity that, rather than striking her down, flipped everything she knew on its head.

How had she not seen it before? The sunglasses - the impeccable timing - the _voice_ -

Kara Danvers and the vigilante were one and the same.

It was Kara who had come to her rescue the night before - Kara, who had saved her life.

That meant that Kara Danvers...was a superhero.

And a superhero was exactly what Lena needed.

Once the shock of her second revelation in half as many mornings wore off, the rest of Lena’s plan came in bits and pieces, half-strewn ideas that formed from chaotic thoughts on the bus ride to the university. By the time she’d arrived, Lena had managed to form a shaky strategy, a plan in two parts, both working on the knowledge that:

A. Kara Danvers was, in fact, the vigilante, and  
B. Judging from her reaction the night before, there was no way in hell she was going to share that information with Lena willingly.

So Lena was just going to have to get her to admit it. 

And that was why she was here, pacing an empty classroom in the science department, waiting anxiously for Kara’s arrival. Those five minutes must have passed by now, surely. Had it been five minutes? Or ten? She checked her watch again, and then glanced at the classroom’s clock to confirm it.

Six minutes. Lena bit her lip worriedly, an edge of doubt oozing into her thoughts. What if she’d had a change of heart? What if she wasn’t coming?

_Why would she?_ A sly voice whispered in the back of her head. _If she really is an alien, do you really think she’d be willing to help a Luthor? She probably thinks you’re just like Lex, just as insane -_

The door burst open, interrupting the stream of negative thoughts that had begun to overtake her. Lena stopped pacing and looked up towards the door, nervous expectation and apprehension all mixed together at once.

Kara skidded into the classroom, looking extremely flustered. She stumbled to a halt, shrugging her bag, whose straps had slid precariously down her shoulder, back into place, and reached up to adjust the glasses which were hanging off her nose. The she caught sight of Lena, and hesitated, her gaze flitting towards Lena’s injured hand - and was that a knowing look in her eye? - before her eyes tracked upwards to meet Lena’s once again, and a sheepish look stole across her face.

“I’m sorry I’m late!” she blurted out, before Lena even had time to open her mouth. “I was with Winn in the library, you know, and it’s on the other side of campus, and so I ran, but apparently not fast enough -”

“It’s fine, Kara,” Lena interrupted her, and had to grit her teeth to keep from smiling at her rambling apologies. What right did she have to look so damn gorgeous after running all the way across campus? It was completely unfair, especially when Lena looked like a zombie that had risen from the grave - twice. 

_Get a grip, Lena,_ she warned herself. _You saw the way she looked at your hand - she knows more than she’s pretending to._

She was not going to give in to Kara’s ridiculous charm. Lena was stronger than that, and she could not be soft, or she would never go through with her plan. Her stomach twinged with guilt at the thought of what she was about to do, but she pushed that thought away. She had to get Kara to admit the truth. It was the only way. 

So she took a deep breath, and schooled her face into a hardened expression. Kara watched her, the uncertain smile sliding into worry, and she opened her mouth to say something, but Lena cut her off with a wave of her hand.

“You’re probably going to say something about last night,” she spoke before Kara could get the words out, and Kara snapped her mouth shut and hesitated, before giving a deflated nod.

“Listen, Lena, I have to apologize. The way I reacted -” she began.

“It’s okay, Kara. I don’t want to talk about that.” The words came out harsher than she’d intended, as she attempted to stuff down the warmth that flared immediately up in her chest at her friend’s apology. She forced herself to relax, before continuing. “I want to talk about something...else that happened to me last night.”

“Something...else?” Kara asked, her tone so completely oblivious that Lena couldn’t help but feel a whisper of doubt. “Why, what happened?”

_She’s lying, she’s got to be._

“Yeah, um, so do you remember how I sort of...stormed out of your apartment last night?” Lena winced involuntarily at the memory, and from the expression on Kara’s face, she could tell that she wasn’t the only one who remembered. “So on the way home, these two guys cornered me at the bus stop and tried to mug me.”

“Tried to...oh my god, Lena, are you alright?” Lena couldn’t help but think that Kara had to be one hell of a good actor, because the look of shock and concern on her face was so genuine that it took her aback. Kara’s eyes flickered down towards Lena’s bandaged hand, and she took a step forward, her brow furrowed in worry.

“Um, yeah, I’m fine,” she mumbled lamely, and jerked her hand behind her back as she struggled to collect her thoughts. Kara stopped in her tracks, though her anxious look lingered, and Lena cursed internally. Why did the concern in her voice have to sound so genuine? It was almost as if she was reaching out to comfort Lena, and the thought of letting her was sorely tempting - except for the fact that she was lying through her teeth. Or at least, Lena thought she was. She still needed to find a way to prove it.

But that was for step two. She was getting ahead of herself.

“So I know how that sounds, but that’s actually also not what I wanted to talk about,” Lena continued, trying to force some of the confidence back into her voice. “Well, it is related, kind of.”

The words were coming out so jumbled that even Lena didn’t understand exactly what she herself was trying to say, and from the look of it, neither did Kara. The worry in her face shifted to confusion, and she cocked her head questioningly to one side. “Lena, are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes!” Lena said, frustration clear in her tone, and then sighed. “Listen, Kara, I have to ask you something really important, and I need you to answer honestly, okay? Can you do that for me?”

“Um, sure, Lena. Of course I can.” From the tone of her voice, it looked like Kara wanted to do anything but. She began to play with a loose thread on the hem of her sleeve, nerves clear in the movement. “Why? W-what’s the question?”

Lena closed her eyes for a second, drawing in another calming breath. She held it for a moment, and then let it out, before opening her eyes to steadily meet Kara’s gaze.

“Last night, the only reason I escaped from those two thugs is because that vigilante from the news saved me - and she was wearing my sunglasses.” She paused to let the words sink in, noting the way Kara’s expression had turned to a surprise that seemed almost too carefully manufactured - or was she imagining that? - before continuing. “I only made a few pairs of those glasses, and I’ve accounted for all of them, except for yours.”

Kara was looking at her with an unreadable expression. “That’s really weird, Lena - I mean -”

“Do you still have them?” Lena demanded, cutting her off. Kara’s eyes grew wide at the question, and she began to stutter.

“What? Of - of course I do! They’re somewhere in my - uh - my room, I think. Why, do you need them back?”

“No.” Lena took a step forward, emboldened by Kara’s rather unconvincing explanation. She frowned, studying Kara’s face, who began to squirm under the intense scrutiny. “I was just wondering if maybe you lent them to somebody else.”

“Pfft, no. Why would I do that?” She chuckled weakly, and took a nervous step backwards, edging away from Lena’s approach. Her eyes darted towards the door. “I haven’t seen them in a while, actually. I’ll have to look for them.”

“Are you sure you didn’t lend them to somebody?” Lena asked, and took another step forward. She was close enough to touch Kara now, and so she leaned into the proximity, dropping her voice low. “Because if you didn’t, then I can’t imagine how that vigilante got her hands on them.”

“On second thought,” Kara swallowed thickly, her eyes flickering up and down Lena’s form. Suddenly, Lena was forcibly reminded of a moment the night before, when they had been as close as they were now, and she realized that Kara appeared to be thinking of the same thing. “Maybe I did lend them to somebody. A friend.”

“Right. A friend.” Lena had to resist the urge to laugh, for fear of ruining the moment. Forced confession by seduction. It wasn’t want she had intended, but then again, one had to use the tools given in the situation. That, and she couldn’t deny that since Kara so often succeeded in rendering Lena speechless, she didn’t mind returning the favor. 

_Stick to the plan, Lena._ The thought popped suddenly into Lena’s head, forcing her reluctantly back to reality. However, she filed the new tidbit away in her mind. Perhaps she could use it later.

“Yeah, okay.” She pulled back abruptly, leaving Kara startled enough to stumble backwards. She sagged as the tension dissipated between them, and gave Lena an utterly endearing look that was somewhere between confusion and disappointment. “So my question is, do you know the vigilante? Because I need to talk to her.”

“I - what?” Kara gaped at her, baffled by the sudden U-turn the conversation had taken. She still looked dazed, as if she were thinking of something else entirely. Lena didn’t have to guess what, and though there was a part of her that thrilled at the apparent effect she was able to have on Kara, another part needed her to focus.

“The vigilante. Do you know her?” She asked, letting a drop of impatience edge into her tone. “I have something extremely urgent to tell her.”

“I...might know her,” Kara replied slowly, her tone careful, as if she were trying to guess where exactly Lena was trying to go with her line of questioning. “Why do you need to see her?”

This was her trump card. Her guarantee. Lena delivered it with the grim confidence of somebody on a mission.

“I can’t tell you. It’s too important. I can only tell her.”

_That_ caught Kara off-guard. Her expression turned stricken - almost offended. “What - of course you can tell me! Why not?”

“It’s too important,” Lena answered imperiously, adding a sober shake of her head for good measure. “I can only tell the vigilante.”

Kara crossed her arms, and Lena could have sworn she saw the ghost of a pout on her lips. “Well, I can pass it on to her.”

“No good. I need to speak to her myself.” 

Kara stared at her speechlessly, stubborn exasperation writ across her face. Lena returned her gaze steadily, arching one eyebrow coolly. Moments passed.

At last, Lena broke the silence. “So I take it that’s a no?”

“It’s not a no, it’s just - “ Kara broke off and let out a groan of frustration. “Why can’t you just tell me, and I’ll pass it on to her? She’s kind of hard to pin down.”

“I bet.” Lena gave her a measured look, trying to keep her expression as neutral as possible Inwardly, she wanted to laugh. Hard to pin down? “Okay, let’s put it this way: say I have some urgent news that might possibly put the _entire city_ in danger, and I think the vigilante can help me. I need to find her as soon as possible.”

She paused for a moment, to gauge Kara’s reaction. She needn’t have; Kara was hanging onto every word, her eyes growing wide and the crinkle in her forehead deepening with every passing second.

“So, given that, do you think the vigilante could find time in her... _elusive_ schedule, to meet me at...oh, I don’t know, five o’clock today?” She flung the offer out in a calculatedly casual way, not letting her gaze drop for a moment. Kara stared at her, warring emotions playing across her face. She was clearly torn, and Lena felt another twinge of guilt draw a crack in her confident facade. 

Kara cleared her throat, and then asked, weakly, “The entire city is in danger?”

Lena nodded.

“And the vigilante is the only one who can help?”

Another nod. Kara absorbed that information silently for a moment, before replying.

“Okay,” she gulped, looking rather nauseous - in fact, the same color Lena had turned upon discovering the news for herself. She wondered if she had broken the news too abruptly, and then decided to was too late to dwell on that now, and refocused her attention on Kara.

“Okay,” Kara said again, and nodded, as if she were trying to convince herself of the idea. “Okay, I’ll try and get into contact with her. If I tell her the whole city’s in danger, I’m sure she’ll agree to meet you. Where should I, uh, tell her to go?”

Lena thought for a moment, and then flashed her a smile. “How about the roof of the science building? Nobody ever goes up there, so it’ll probably be empty.”

“Fine,” Kara answered. Her brow was creased in worry, so much so that Lena almost felt bad enough to confess everything on the spot - but she didn’t. A lingering feeling of doubt persisted in her gut, reigning the impulse in. Lena would meet the vigilante first. She had to be sure it was Kara. If by some chance she was wrong, and it wasn’t her, she didn’t want to put her friend in unnecessary danger. 

“Great!” Lena said brightly, and smiled. “So, by the way, what should I call our mysterious heroine? She seemed to like the name Supergirl, I think.”

Never had Lena seen a face fall into a frown so fast. “I don’t think so,” Kara grumbled. “You know, I don’t actually think she has a name yet. She probably wants something cooler than ‘Supergirl’.”

“Really?” Lena said, feigning mock surprise. “Oh, that’s kind of awkward then, because that’s the name I gave to the papers. Oh well, guess she’ll have to correct me in person.”

The last few words came out rather strangled, as Lena attempted to reign in the laugher bubbling up in her throat. Kara’s frown had deepened, settling into a gloomy pout, and it was all Lena could do to maintain her composure.

_If that doesn’t prove my theory, I’ll call it in right now._

“Okay, so I’ll pass on your message,” Kara’s voice pulled Lena from her self-congratulatory thoughts. “I think she’ll show up for you - I mean, for your news, if it’s as important as you say it is.”

“It is,” Lena assured her, and her gaze swept over Kara’s face one last time, her eyes falling towards a blonde tress that had come loose, hanging over her glasses frames. She had a sudden, irresistible urge to reach up and brush it away. She forced the feeling down. “Five o’clock, roof of the science building. I won’t be late. I hope she won’t be either.”

“She won’t,” Kara said seriously, and her blue eyes shone with sincerity. Lena believed her, and was taken aback by the wave of relief that washed over her at the words. She wasn’t alone. The vigilante was going to help her.

_Kara_ was going to help her.

She just didn’t know it yet.

***

Kara played at indecisiveness the whole day, though really, she knew deep in her gut that the decision had been made the moment Lena had made the offer.

It was hardly a choice, anyway. If Lena wouldn’t talk to her as Kara Danvers, and whatever she had to say was really dangerous enough to affect the entire city, well - how could she not go?

And anyway, she reminded herself firmly, whenever a whisper of doubt flared up in her stomach, she wasn’t technically breaking Alex’s rules. She wouldn’t be going anywhere off campus (except for a quick trip home to pick up her disguise, but that was still within limits), and she wouldn’t use her powers - she would take the bus. 

In addition, five o’clock was a perfectly reasonable time to be on campus, she determined. Alex wouldn’t be home until six, and classes often went until five anyway. There was nothing suspicious about her meeting up with Lena. There was no reason not to.

To her surprise however, Winn vehemently disagreed.

“You can’t meet with her, Kara!” he protested as they stood together at the bus stop, Winn to head home, Kara to stop off for her disguise before returning to the school. They had finally met up after their separate classes, and Kara had just gotten done filling him in of all that had occured that morning. 

“Why not?” she asked, startled by his apparent disapproval. Winn was usually her most enthusiastic supporter in all of her superhero exploits.

“Because it’s a trap!” he hissed, before glancing around to see if anybody was listening. There were only a few other bored looking students standing at the stop, most with headphones, but he lowered his voice anyway before continuing. “Kara, she’s trying to find you out! Why else wouldn’t she tell you right then?”

Kara frowned at his words. “She said it was too dangerous to tell just anyone.”

Winn snorted in disbelief. “Blatant flattery.”

“Hey, okay now I’m offended,” Kara replied, and shot him a glare, moving her hands to her hips. “Winn, if she really knows, why wouldn’t she just ask me straight-up?”

“If she did, would you tell her?”

“Of course not,” Kara answered, and then paused as she realized what she was saying. Her lips dropped into a dismayed frown. “Oh. I see what you mean.”

Winn leaned back, crossing his arms victoriously. “Mark my words, Kara, it’s a trap.”

“Lena’s not like that,” Kara argued, but even to her ears the words sounded weak and unconvincing. “At least, I don’t think so.”

Winn just shrugged. “All I’m saying is, I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Yeah…” Kara trailed off, dejection evident in her tone, before suddenly perking up. “But what about the thing she said she had to warn me about?”

“Probably just part of the plan to draw you in,” Winn pointed out.

“But what if it’s not?” Kara said, her expression turning thoughtful. “Okay, so even if it’s a risky move, don’t you think it’s worth it? I mean, if she really has news about something big happening to the city, I should know, right?”

“Do you think you’re ready to handle something like that?”

Kara glared at him, and he raised his hands defensively. “Hey, you’re the great doubter here! You always second guess yourself - I’m just bringing up your own points.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” she grumbled, but her glare softened at his - if she was being honest - spot on assessment. “Okay, so I see your point, but what else can I do? Lena’s smart, and if she’s asking a vigilante for help, it’s probably for a specific reason.”

“Yeah, to expose you,” Winn stated, eyebrows raised.

Kara shook her head. “I don’t know, Winn. I think it’s worth going. I know it’s kind of skirting Alex’s rules, but I - I wouldn’t feel right with myself if I didn’t.”

She looked him steadily in the eye as she spoke the words, and he returned her gaze gravely, studying her face as he tried to gauge her level of seriousness. At last, he gave in and sighed, looking away.

“You’re not gonna change your mind, are you?” he asked, a note of resignation in his voice.

Kara just shook her head. “What kind of superhero am I if I just ignore signs of trouble?”

“Signs of trouble…” Winn repeated, and trailed off as he stared at her in disbelief. “Kara, I know you’re going to go no matter what I say but did you ever think that maybe Lena’s a sign of trouble? I mean, her last name is Luthor.”

“Oh, and suddenly that makes her a bad person?” Kara countered fiercely, her nostrils flaring. “You can’t just judge people based on their last name, Winn.”

The rebuttal came out rather aggressively, enough for Winn to widen his eyes in surprise. “Okay, I know that. I’m just worried about you, Kara. Your family and hers don’t have the best history.”

“I know,” Kara responded, and then sighed, and brought a hand up to fix her glasses. “I just don’t like to judge people for no reason. And Lena’s not like her family - I can tell. She just needs to be given a chance.”

_Like me,_ she added silently. Kara knew all about people not being given chances, and she was the last person to turn around and do the same.

And, if she was being honest with herself, there was a teensy bit of guilt mixed into her passionate defense. After all, Kara’s own initial reaction to discovering Lena’s family name had been hurtful to say the least, if not utterly hypocritical. It was the last thing she wanted Lena to think - that Kara would reject her simply because of her family name. Even now, a full day after the incident, Kara cringed as she recalled her reaction; the instinctive fear that had flashed across her face, and the immediate hurt and betrayal that she had seen in Lena’s eyes at the sight.

And they _still_ hadn’t talked about it, though Kara desperately wanted to. Her attempts to apologize that morning had been brushed off, as if the incident had happened weeks ago, rather than the night before. Maybe Lena really had gotten over it that easily, but Kara couldn’t quite bring herself to believe that. Perhaps the reason she’d dismissed the fight so quickly was because whatever looming threat she’d discovered was so dangerous that she couldn’t focus on anything else.

If so, then Kara definitely wanted to know about it.

She refocused her attention back on Winn, who was staring at her, still looking rather dubious. “You get that, right?”

His gaze lingered for a second longer, doubtful, before at last he shrugged. “I guess,” he answered reluctantly. “I mean, yeah, I shouldn’t judge her just because of her family - trust me, I know. I just don’t want you to walk into a trap.”

Kara grinned encouragingly, and gave him a light cuff to the shoulder. “Yeah, but with you watching my back? Not gonna happen.”

“You bet your ass it won’t,” Winn grumbled, and then suddenly brightened, as an idea hit him. “Wait, actually, I just realized something - I can have your back for when you meet Lena!”

Kara frowned. “I thought you already did have my back.”

“No - not emotionally!” He answered, and dove for his backpack, unzipping pockets to rummage through them as he spoke. “I wanted to show you one of the gadgets I finished for your suit this morning - but I forgot, and then you had to rush out, and yada yada yada -“

He kept up his explanation in long breathless sentences as he continued to search. “So I’ve been carrying them around all day, and I almost forgot I had them. Of course, they’re the most basic part of your suit, and once I finish I’ll need them back, but since you’re going to be meeting Lena tonight I bet you could use…”

He trailed off as his fingers grasped something Kara couldn’t see, and his expression twisted into triumph, as he pulled a small tupperware container free. “...this.”

He tilted the clear container towards Kara to get a better view, and she peered closer in interest. Inside lay two small black earpieces, not unlike the sort worn by businessmen. “You made me a bluetooth?”

Winn groaned. “No, _obviously._ They’re headsets, yeah, but I modified them so they’re encrypted just for the two of us. They’ve also got way better reception than any normal sets, because they pick up on vibration. That way you can sub-vocalize, and I’ll still hear you loud and clear.”

Kara nodded, impressed. Sub-vocalizing was something they’d been practicing as well, after she’d mentioned offhandedly to Winn one day that she could pick up far more frequencies than the average human. He theorized that, with her powers, she might be able to vibrate her vocal cords in such a way that was impossible for human ears to pick up on. She’d tried it, and found to her surprise that he was right - it just took some practice to perfect.

“Winn, these are great,” she told him excitedly, and he grinned, clearly pleased by her praise. “This’ll be perfect! Can I take them with me?”

“Duh,” he answered, and shoved them into her hands. “I’ve got mine at home. We’ll try them out tonight when you meet Lena, so you can let me know if things start to go sideways.”

“Of course,” she said, smiling, and tucked them into her bag. Just in time, as her bus pulled around the corner and began trundling towards the bus stop. “Winn, have I ever told you that you’re literally a genius?”

“Definitely not enough,” he groused, but his face flushed all the same. The bus pulled up to the stop and he stepped back as a mass of people began to migrate towards the doors. “You’ll let me know when you meet her, right?”

“With these I will,” Kara said, and tapped her bag where she’d slipped the headset, before moving forward to join the group of people. “Be ready at five, ‘kay?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he answered, and gave her a thumbs up, which she returned before disappearing onto the bus. With a wheeze the bus gathered itself and pulled off the curb, and onto the street. Winn watched it go for a second, before turning to search for his own line’s arrival.

He hoped, for Kara’s sake, that the night would go smoothly - but still, he couldn’t help the anxious fluttering in his stomach. He had the feeling that Kara’s meeting was about to change things - and for better or worse, he didn’t know.

***

Lena was strongly resisting the urge to pace.

She had paced enough that morning, she’d decided, during her anxious wait in the few minutes between her phone call and Kara’s arrival. How much pacing was healthy, anyway? There probably came a point where walking in obsessive circles made one’s anxiety rise instead of lower. Lena theorized that she’d already long since passed that point. 

So she stood, restlessly, by the northernmost corner, the roof flat and empty except for the entrance on the far side. She shivered slightly against the cold wind, which was growing more noticeable with every passing second, and glanced at her watch. The time read 4:58.

She parsed occasionally glares at the obstinately unmoving numbers between long stretches of searching both the sky and horizon for the vigilante, praying she wouldn’t be a no show. Lena didn’t know exactly what kind of powers she possessed, so she didn’t know exactly from whence she would appear, but five o’clock was ticking ever closer, and her patience was growing short.

As it was, Lena hadn’t expected her to arrive through the roof entrance, of all places.

5:00 had arrived, and then slipped into 5:01 with no sign of the vigilante, and Lena was impatiently scanning the city skyline, an anxious frown upon her face, when the slam of the roof entrance door echoed across the silence.

She jumped and whirled around at the unexpected noise, her heart rate skyrocketing, before she saw who it was and let out a curse. The whole situation had her on edge, especially since her attempted mugging the night before, and she was jumpy as a result. However, she forced herself to recover and took a step forward, straining her eyes to make out the identity of the figure that had slipped through the door.

The figure stepped closer, moving out of the shadows, and Lena felt an unexpectedly overwhelming flood of relief as she managed to make out the familiar blue sweatshirt and masked face of the vigilante.

_She came, thank god,_ Lena thought, and sent out a silent thanks that Kara had chosen to listen to her - or to pass on the message.

Because now that she stood opposite the vigilante, in the flesh, Lena recalled just why the idea that Kara was under that mask seemed so implausible. As she moved closer, unconsciously, she began to notice the stark differences between Kara and this vigilante. Whilst her Kara came off clumsy and uncertain in her movements, as if she wasn’t quite in control of her body, this woman stood tall, almost menacingly so. Every movement exuded a sense of carefully controlled power, and Lena got the sudden sense that she was, in this situation, very much outclassed.

Tendrils of doubt began to creep over Lena, and she felt her mask of confidence falter ever so slightly. What if she was wrong? What if it wasn’t Kara under that mask? If she went through with her plan to unmask the vigilante and it wasn’t Kara...well, it would be devastatingly embarrassing, to say the least.

_Oh, stop being a coward,_ she chided herself. _This isn’t just about her identity, anyway. Even if you’re wrong, you need to warn her._

The thought steeled her, and so she gulped in a shaky breath of frigid air, and forced herself to put on the most convincingly confident facade she could muster.

“You’re late,” she called out, her voice ringing with a bravado so incredibly false that she wanted to cringe.

“By one minute,” the vigilante called back, easy confidence spilling off of the words. “And I only came at all because Kara Danvers said you had important information for me.”

Lena found herself straining to make out Kara’s familiar tones and verbal tics, but there was nothing in that confident voice that suggested her awkward alter-ego. If she didn’t know better she could have sworn she was talking to a completely different person. Was it really possible for one person to wield dual identities so easily?

Only one way to find out. Lena took a few steps forward, shortening the distance between them. As she moved closer, the twinkling city lights illuminated the vigilante enough that she could make out more and more details of her costume; there was a new burn from where the weapon had hit her last night and - yes, there they were. Lena’s sunglasses.

“I do have information for you,” she responded, refusing to let her gaze drop. She felt certain that the vigilante’s - Kara’s - eyes were following her from behind those sunglasses. “It involves my family’s company - and my mother, specifically.”

“And you chose to come to me,” the vigilante asked flatly, apparently unconvinced - or maybe unimpressed. “I have to admit, I don’t understand what I have to do with anything.”

“You’re the city’s hero, right?” Lena demanded. The question seemed to take the vigilante off guard and she hesitated for a fraction of a second, before nodding. “Good, so that’s why. I have it on good authority that my mother is planning something that will put the entire city in danger, and I need somebody who can stop her.”

“Go to the police,” the vigilante answered, and Lena almost groaned in frustration. She wondered if this was Kara’s way of playing apathetic, trying to throw Lena off from the eager curiosity she’d shown that morning. If so, it was doing more to annoy her than anything else. “I can’t. My mother has too many informants there. As much as I hate to admit it, I need somebody who operates independently. Somebody outside the law.”

She studied the masked face as she spoke, searching for some sign of familiarity. There was a pause, and then the vigilante cocked her head thoughtfully in a very Kara-ish way. Lena felt a surge of victory.

The pause lasted a few seconds longer, until at last the vigilante spoke. Her tone, at last, was agreeable, and Lena couldn’t fight the swell of relief in her stomach. “Fine. I can help you. Give me what you know, and I’ll take it from there.”

This was it. Her answer was exactly what Lena had been waiting for - exactly what she’d hoped to hear. Now she had only to agree.

“No.” The word left her mouth, and the vigilante actually jerked back with surprise. 

“What? Why not?”

_That_ reaction was Kara in spades, and Lena felt her lips curl into a smirk at her response. It had been precisely the response she’d been hoping to provoke.

Now it was time to initiate part two of her plan. She took another step forward, moving close enough that they stood less than a meter apart. She could feel the vigilante watching her intently, a question in her gaze, before she cleared her throat, and spoke again. “Why would you come to me if you didn’t want me to help you?”

“Just because you’re my only option doesn’t mean I trust you,” she answered immediately, and ran her gaze over the vigilante’s disguise, lingering on the sunglasses. “I want to work with you, but first I need some questions answered.”

Lena had been creeping ever closer as she spoke, until she was just a foot from her chest. The vigilante seemed to notice suddenly just how close she was standing, and took a step back. 

But only one. 

“That’s not how this works,” she replied, but there was a waver of uncertainty in her voice. She seemed slightly thrown off, unsure of where Lena was leading the conversation. That was exactly what Lena wanted. “I’m not getting civilians involved in my work. It would just put you in danger.”

“I was under the impression that I was already involved,” Lena answered, undeterred. “I’m the one in possession of the information, and I’m not handing it over unless I have a basis of trust to work from. You may not like it, Supergirl, but we’re in this together.”

The vigilante groaned, and ran a hand over her masked face. The gesture looked eerily similar to the way Kara often adjusted her glasses, a fact that Lena filed away immediately. “I thought I told you that wasn’t my name.”

“Your friend Kara mentioned that you didn’t like it,” Lena admitted. “I suppose she was the one who gave you those glasses too, right?”

She reached up as if to take them off, just as she had the night before, but this time the vigilante reacted immediately, catching her wrist in a gentle, yet unyielding grip. “Hey, don’t touch those,” she growled. “And maybe. What’s it to you?”

Lena just smiled, all teeth, and leaned closer, her voice dropping low. “I would say it’s pretty important, seeing as those are my glasses.”

Her hand was still caught up in the vigilante’s, and so she improvised, twisting her wrist, so as to wrap her fingers around the vigilante’s. She could feel the unforgiving strength in that grip, and suddenly felt absolutely certain that, if the vigilante didn’t want her to, she wouldn’t have been able to move her hand at all.

But perhaps she had been taken aback by Lena’s surprising response, for she let their fingers tangle together, their hands slowly lowering.

“I don’t know where she got them,” she said at last, but the words were so obviously a lie that Lena almost laughed. 

However, she managed to reign it in. It wouldn’t do to show her cards too soon. Kara was too on edge to admit anything. Lena would have to push just a bit farther.

“That’s a problem then, because I was going to ask for them back.” Her one hand was still wrapped around Kara’s, so she used it to pull herself just a bit closer, making the space between them unavoidably intimate. This time, Kara didn’t draw back, though Lena could feel the confusion roiling off her.

“Wh - What are you doing?” There wasn’t much bite left in her voice, just a wary uncertainty, and Lena got the distinct impression that she didn’t mind the closeness. Rather she seemed to respond to it, her fingers unconsciously twining into Lena’s, squeezing warmly. “This is - um - inappropriate.”

“Consider it this or the glasses,” Lena breathed, and reached up cautiously, waiting for Kara to come to her senses and jerk away. She didn’t, and so Lena continued the movement, moving as if to push a lock of hair behind her ear. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Do I - I -“ Kara stammered, seemingly unable to form a sentence. Her hand was hot in Lena’s, and Lena could hear her heart pounding, loud and unsteady. “Wait - but what about Kara? I thought you - she -“ 

Lena paused, her hand hovering, just barely touching the grey mask, and she raised one eyebrow. “What about Kara?”

It was that sentence that seemed to break the spell. Kara’s grip loosened in hers, and she glanced down at their intertwined hands, as if for the first time realizing just how close together they stood. “Hey, you can’t just -“

That was when Lena acted. In one swift movement, her hand tightened again around Kara’s, trapping her, while the other she buried in the soft knit fabric of the ski mask, and _pulled._

Kara tried to duck away, but it was too late. With a triumphant yank, Lena pulled the mask off, knocking the hood of her sweatshirt back. A blonde braid tumbled free, as the sunglasses clattered to the floor, but Lena couldn’t care less about those. Kara stood in front of her, blinking owlishly, as her expression twisted into a mixture of outrage and shock. 

“You - you -“ she managed to get out.

“You are such an _idiot_ ,” Lena finished for her, and maybe it was because of the relief that her plan had actually worked, or because Kara looked sheepishly adorable, all mussed hair and flushed cheeks, or because they were already half-tangled together anyway, but Lena stretched up onto her toes and kissed her.

Kara was still stammering indignantly when their lips met, only to be cut off by Lena pulling her closer, deepening the kiss. She hesitated for a fraction of a second, before falling into the moment, her hands snaking around Lena’s waist, knotting themselves into the fabric of her jacket. The kiss was neither as long or as deep as the first one, but it was steady and warm and when they at last broke apart, Lena found that her heart rate was thrumming, as much with relief at the success of her plan as it was at the lingering taste of Kara’s lips upon hers.

Lena reached up to touch her lips, only to find that the curve of a giddy smile was starting to form. She knew she should get rid of it, because Kara was still looking at her with a spark of indignation in her eyes, even if rather faded from before, but she found she couldn’t. There was too many emotions in her to be contained - triumph that her plan had worked, satisfaction that she had been right, relief that she wasn’t going to be going into this thing alone. The overwhelming relief of it all threatened to knock her off her feet, though she suspected that that might be a combination effect stemming from her lack of sleep, and the lingering excitement of the kiss.

What could she say? It had been a good kiss.

Kara’s expression was somewhere between bewilderment and accusation, until eventually she decided to settle on the latter, and narrowed her eyes. 

“You tricked me,” she declared, and Lena was sure she must be imagining things, because it almost looked like Kara was about to pout. “I thought - I thought you came here to bring me information!”

“I did,” Lena answered coolly, though she still couldn’t manage to get rid of her triumphant smirk entirely. “But I wanted to be sure I was giving it to the right person first. Do you really think I’d just pass sensitive information to somebody I don’t even know?”

Kara groaned, and ran a hand through her hair, unintentionally mussing it further. Lena followed the gesture for a second before tearing her eyes away, forcibly quashing the butterflies in her stomach. Instead she refocused her gaze on Kara’s face, who seemed to be oscillating between several questions, and unable to decide which to ask.

“How did you know it was me?” She asked at last. “Was it the sunglasses? It was the sunglasses, wasn’t it?”

Lena snorted. “That was the most obvious giveaway, but really Kara? I know you. I know your voice and your gestures - and, well, from the second I heard your voice last night I knew it was someone familiar to me, it just took me awhile to put the pieces together.”

She watched Kara’s expression as she spoke, which seemed to drop more and more with every word. She wondered vaguely just how successful Kara considered her disguise to be, and then wondered if she wasn’t the only person to figure it out. There must be other people in Kara’s life who knew the truth, surely. Kara’s sister was a certainty, and there was also -

“Winn Schott knows too, doesn’t he?” she asked, and had the pleasure of seeing Kara’s mouth drop open in shock, as she gaped at her for the second time that evening. Lena took that as a sign that she had guessed the truth.

“How did you - never mind. Gosh, you really are something, aren’t you?” She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly, and then, after a moment’s hesitation, tilted her head, letting her hair fall away to reveal a small black earpiece. If Lena had to guess, she would have thought it looked like a reconfigured bluetooth - which, she realized, it probably was. “He’s uh - listening.”

“Listening - ?” Lena’s gaze swung between her and the earpiece, and her expression morphed into one of dawning horror. “Oh my god, did he just hear everything?”

Kara hung her head even lower. “Um, kind of,” she mumbled shamefacedly. “I thought about turning him off but - c’mon, Winn, I didn’t do it in the end, okay?” 

The last part seemed to be directed towards Winn, who was apparently listening in from - god knows where. Lena felt a hot trickle of embarrassment spread through her, and she wondered grimly if it would be possible to simply avoid Winn for the forseeable future - and then discarded the idea once she realized that would mean giving up on Kara as well.

“He, uh, didn’t really want to hear that part either, if it helps,” Kara informed her awkwardly after a moment’s silence. Lena simply gave her a look, one eyebrow raised, and she snapped her mouth shut, swallowing thickly before continuing.

“So, about that - uh, what happened,” she continued, half-mumbling. “Winn warned me, but I didn’t think you would figure it out, to be honest. I mean, I thought there was a chance, but you said you had a really important warning, so I thought it was worth it to take the risk -”

She was rambling, just like she always did, and suddenly she was just like the Kara that Lena recognized, nevermind that she stood before her in a faded Superman hoodie, the various items of her half-hearted disguise scattered across the rooftop. A familiar warmth rose in Lena’s heart, and she pressed a finger to Kara’s lips, silencing her.

“Kara, wait,” she said. “Let me explain.”

Kara felt silent, a tint rising in her cheeks. Lena lowered her finger, and couldn’t help thinking just how surreal the whole situation was, that they were having a conversation that so clearly echoed the comfortable patterns of any discussion they might have had on an average day, except that they were standing on a roof and she had just found out that her crush was moonlighting as a superpowered vigilante.

“Last night, when you rescued me,” she began, and Kara opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it again. Lena waited for a moment, and then continued. “I thought I recognized you, but I wasn’t sure, because honestly, I was a little too out of it to be thinking straight. I didn’t really put it together until this morning, and then I wasn’t sure how to confront you.”

“Why didn’t you just ask me?”

Lena gave her a disbelieving look. “Would you have given me a straight answer?”

“Um…” Kara considered the question, and shrugged. “I’m not sure - no, I don’t think so. I’m not supposed to tell anyone, ever. I didn’t even tell Winn - he found out by accident.”

Lena looked surprised. “Why can’t you tell anyone? I mean, I do see the logic, but what about people you’re close to?”

_What about me?_ Was the silent question on her tongue. _Would you have told me eventually, if I hadn’t figured it out?_

Kara seemed to catch the unsaid question, and had the good grace to look faintly guilty. “It’s sort of not my choice. Alex knows, obviously, and she made me swear not to tell. Only a couple people know, besides her and my cous-”

She stopped short on the last word, but it was too late. Lena leaned forward, interest sparked. “You have a cousin? Is he like you? Is Alex like you?”

She realized just a fraction of a second too late that perhaps her questions were a little too on the nose, but Kara didn’t seem to take offense. “No, Alex is human,” she said dismissively. “She’s my adopted sister. My cousin put me with the Danvers when I came to earth, so I could have a normal childhood.”

“A normal…” Lena’s head was spinning. Just like that, Kara had confirmed that she were an alien, as casually as if she were mentioning that she was a Journalism major. Which suddenly seemed to explain her large gaps of knowledge when it came to the history and writing assignments Lena had helped her with. 

She felt dizzy, taken aback by the revelations that, okay, she had known were coming, but not quite like that. Came to earth? Another alien cousin? Somehow, Kara’s answers just begot more questions, and Lena couldn’t figure out what to ask about first.

She decided to latch onto the alien cousin, as the subject that seemed to require opening the fewest cans of worms. “You have a cousin who’s...like you?”

“Yeah.” Kara nodded in confirmation. “He’s actually my younger cousin but...you know what, that’s a long story. He’s older than me, and he lives in Metropolis.”

Metropolis. An alien. Lena stared at Kara, as the implications of those words sunk in. Sure, there had to be plenty of aliens living in Metropolis, undercover or simply out of sight, but she only knew of one. And now that she was thinking about it, she thought she could make out a faint family resemblance. “Kara, is your cousin Superman?”

Kara’s eyes grew wide at the guess, and she knew immediately that she was right. “How did you guess that?”

“A baseless leap of logic.” Lena shrugged, trying to play it cool even though her thoughts were spinning. “Actually, he’s the only alien I know of in Metropolis. Also, you guys look like family. Kind of.”

Kara shook her head, and let out another groan. “I can’t believe all of my deeply kept secrets are so easy to figure out,” she griped, in a tone that could have been called whiny if Lena weren’t inclined to be nice. “Please just tell me you’re really smart, so I won’t feel like an idiot.”

“I do supposedly have a genius IQ,” Lena answered absently, still trying to absorb all of the information that had just been laid out before her. Bit by bit, everything was starting to make sense, and then suddenly, without warning, Lena found herself thinking of the night before, when she’d let it fall that she was a Luthor. Kara’s terrified expression, at the time so bizarrely overdramatic, suddenly made perfect sense, and Lena felt her stomach drop. “Wait. Last night. When I told you my last name…”

Kara seemed to be remembering the moment just as clearly as she was. She looked rather green at the thought, and Lena wondered sickly if perhaps she was rethinking their budding relationship, wondering if whether she was right to put her trust in Lena at all.

“I thought you hated me.” The nervous words jerked Lena out of her worried ruminations, and she looked at Kara sharply in shock. 

“Hate you?” She asked incredulously. “I thought you hated me! I thought you never wanted anything to do with me - only now, I totally get why!”

“Huh?” Kara’s brow creased, her forehead wrinkling at the declaration. “No, Lena - I didn’t mean anything like that at all! I just - well, Kal El, I mean Superman, used to tell me horrible stories about xenophobia, and the horrible things humans would do to us if they found out. I was only thirteen when I got here, and I didn’t know any better, and then I saw on TV the things your brother did, and with what my cousin told me -”

“You thought I might be the same way,” Lena finished for her, and tried to ignore the falling disappointment in her stomach. She understood of course, just why Kara would react the way she did, and she wasn’t sure she could really fault her for it - but it hurt all the same.

“I’m not, though,” she added hurriedly, her voice almost a whisper. “I’d never be like my brother - or my mother, for that matter.”

Kara’s eyes widened at the statement, and she jumped to reply, her words tripping over themselves in their hurry. “I don’t think you are! I never thought that, not really - I promise. My reaction was - I don’t know what that was. Instinctive, I guess. Uh, not that I’m instinctively scared of you, or anything. I just thought for a second - but then I realized you didn’t mean anything by that - “

She was rambling again, but Lena let her continue, because even if the words themselves made very little sense, she could understand the point she was trying to get to. She had made a mistake. Or rather, she had jumped to a conclusion, and then, once she’d realized it was wrong, hadn’t been able to fix it, because Lena had left. 

Without waiting for an explanation.

Perhaps Kara hadn’t been the only one who had jumped to an unfair conclusion.

“I’m sorry for storming out on you,” she interrupted, and Kara stopped, tripping over her words. Before she could recover, Lena pushed forward. “That wasn’t fair of me at all. I should’ve given you the chance to explain, and instead I just got mad and left.”

“Oh, and I probably should have waited for your sister to give me a ride,” she added ruefully, and gestured towards her bandaged hand. Kara followed her gaze towards the wound, and winced sympathetically.

“I’m really, _really_ sorry about your hand,” she said, her voice full of apology. Her eyes danced with worry as they flickered down towards Lena’s hand again, before returning to her face. “And for leaving you to the police. I’m not supposed to be out - uh, vigilante-ing, but when I realized you were in trouble, I couldn’t just leave you! But I could have handled it better. That, and my reaction when you told me about your family. I could have handled a lot of things better.”

The last part was admitted in a chagrined tone of voice, as she rubbed the back of her neck and dropped her eyes to the floor. Lena watched her, and felt a surge of affection so powerful it threatened to bow her over.

It didn’t though, and so she reached out with her bandaged hand to touch Kara’s. 

“I’ll accept your apology if you accept mine,” she murmured, and waited until Kara brought her gaze back up to meet hers. She searched her eyes for a second, taking in the sincerity of the words, and then nodded.

“It’s a deal,” she answered, and Lena felt another traitorous smile creeping up on her face. God, how was she ever supposed to keep her cool around Kara when she kept acting like a smitten idiot every time she so much as smiled?

However just then, the smile on Kara’s face faded, and she tilted her head, listening - to Winn, Lena realized. She drew her hand back, suddenly conscious of just how frigid the rooftop had become, and stuck them in her pockets. She ignored the part of her that was tempted to reach out and slip her fingers into Kara’s instead.

Kara listened for a moment, frowning, and then gave an unconscious nod. “Okay, right, I’ll ask her,” she said, and returned her focus to Lena.

“He wants to know about the information you said you had,” she told her, almost apologetically. 

Lena nodded, and just like that, the dread that had ebbed in the face of her preoccupation with Kara came back in full force. “Right. The information. It’s actually sort of related to my family - well, my mother and the business, if you want to be specific. I think she’s planning something...bad, for the city.”

Kara looked at her quizzically, but with no trace of judgement at the mention of her family, and for that Lena felt a sprinkle of gratitude. “What do you mean by bad?”

“I mean, she runs a secret anti-alien organization and wants to maybe blow up the city bad.” The words came out in a jumbled rush, as if by saying them all at once she could mitigate their effect. She watched Kara’s face as she took in the words, watching her curious expression change to shock, before shifting into an expression that more or less mirrored her own inner dread.

“Oh…” she left the word trailing, as if she wanted to add something more to her reaction, but couldn’t find anything else to say. “That’s...oh.”

“Yeah,” Lena agreed, and she opened her mouth, about to go into more detail, and then hesitated. She gestured towards the earpiece. “Maybe...Winn is a part of this, right?”

Kara listened for a moment, and then gave an apologetic wince. “Yeah, and he says, and I quote, ‘obviously I’m involved,’ and ‘thank you for including me for once, Lena’.”

Lena chuckled at that, though the sound was tinged with an anxiety she couldn’t quite shake. At the same time, with her adrenaline fading and the wind staring to pick up, she couldn’t help but notice just how cold it was on the rooftop, and with nothing but the thin jacket she had worn to class, she was starting to shiver. 

“Maybe we should take this discussion to a place where all three of us could meet,” she suggested. Kara looked a rather surprised by the idea, but warmed to it almost immediately.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” she agreed, and nodded at nothing in particular, before adding, “And Winn agrees too.”

“Great,” Lena said, through teeth that were staring to chatter. “We can’t really go to my place but maybe yours - ?”

Kara brightened at that, but then just as quickly her face fell. 

“That’d be perfect, except I’m sort of grounded,” she admitted, grumbling quietly. “I’m not even supposed to be here, technically.”

“Oh.” The question of just why Kara might have gotten grounded flashed across her mind, followed a moment later by the most obvious answer. She started to ask, and then stopped, and filed the question away for later. She had the feeling Kara didn’t particularly want to discuss it. “Well, how about sometime tomorrow? During school hours.”

“Yeah, that sounds better.” Kara seemed relieved at the solution, and Lena couldn’t help but find herself agreeing. She had too much to process without rehashing the hideous plans her mother was concocting. That could wait until tomorrow. For now, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed, as her body seemed to be reminding her of her lack of sleep with waves of exhaustion that had begun racking over her.

She blinked, suddenly tired, and stifled a yawn. Immediately, Kara’s expression flashed to concern.

“Lena, did you get any sleep last night?” She asked.

Lena shrugged. “Honestly? Between getting mugged, and then with the ER and everything else...not really.”

She wanted to add that it wasn’t a cause for worry, that she had made it through plenty of all-nighters in her academic career, but she didn’t make it that far. Kara’s eyes raked over her worriedly, noticing for the first time her thin jacket and the way she was starting to shiver.

“Oh Rao, you must be freezing.” She bent down to scoop up her forgotten disguise, and Lena must have been imagining things because in only the blink of in eye she found that Kara had stuffed the items into her pocket and pulled her sweatshirt over her head, leaving her standing in nothing but jeans and a t-shirt. She offered the worn hoodie out to Lena, who looked at it, not understanding.

“I have to take the disguise off when I get downstairs anyway,” Kara explained, and as she stood there, short-sleeved, and apparently unbothered by the cold wind that had begun to blow over the rooftop, Lena just stared. She reached out and took the sweatshirt hesitantly, but didn’t put it on.

“Won’t you be cold?” She asked, though she had a feeling she already knew the answer. Just as she suspected, Kara shook her head, and then held her hand out to Lena’s. However, instead of twining their fingers together, she pressed her palm up against Lena’s so that she could feel the heat radiating off her.

“It doesn’t really bother me,” she said with a slight shrug. “It has to do with the way my body absorbs the sun’s radiation.”

Lena stared at her, unsure what to say. “You have so much to tell me,” she told her at last, and because Kara’s palm was still pressed in hers, she pushed her fingers through hers and squeezed, linking them together. “But first, you have to walk me down the stairs.”

Kara’s eyebrows rose in surprise, though there wasn’t a hint of reluctance in her expression. “How do you know I won’t just fly home?”

“Please,” Lena scoffed, and extricated her hand in order to throw the sweatshirt over her clothes, light jacket and all, before slipping her fingers back into Kara’s warm grip. “I saw you come up the stairs. Let me guess, you’re not supposed to be using your powers?”

Kara grimaced. “Something like that.” Her hand firmly encased in Lena’s, she took the opportunity to pull her closer, until they were pressed side-to-side together. Only then did she start to move towards the stairs, Lena with her.

They made their way down the stairs in silence, and though the cold lessened immediately as soon as they entered the building, Lena didn’t pull away, even when she started to sweat, pressed up against Kara’s body heat and cocooned in, not just her own jacket, but the hoodie as well. Instead, she moved closer, leaning into the heat, even as it grew uncomfortable. There was a different sort of comfort in it, the comfort of being pressed close to somebody else, of feeling Kara’s body nestled against hers.

Lena savored the moment. She pulled away only reluctantly, once they made it to the bottom of building, just before reaching the glass double doors of the main entrance. They paused for a moment in the deserted lobby, before Lena turned towards Kara, breaking the pressed together position they had taken up, though she kept her hand linked with Kara’s.

“This is where we part, I think,” she said, for lack of anything better to say. There was a large part of her that didn’t want to leave at all; rather with all the confusion cleared up, part of her wanted nothing more than to remain on the rooftop, enveloped in Kara’s sweatshirt (and possibly Kara’s embrace too, if she was being honest with herself), and ask Kara all the questions that were plaguing her; about her life and growing up with the Danvers, and what it was like being an immigrant to earth. All the things about Kara Danvers that she had never had the chance to know before.

But she would have to be home before long, and Kara would definitely have to as well, so Lena extricated reluctantly herself from her grip, taking a step back so as to meet Kara’s in the eyes. “We’ll meet tomorrow though?”

“Tomorrow,” Kara assured her, letting her now free hand drop slowly to her side. She looked almost fidgety, as if she wanted to do something, or say something, but she only hesitated, before saying, “Good night, Lena. And um, it’s nice that you know. That I won’t have to hide from you.”

She fumbled the words, ducking her head as she spoke, and Lena felt another strong wave of affection, such that she was tempted to kiss her again, but she resisted the urge, unsure if she should push her luck. After all, they’d only kissed twice, and Lena had initiated both of them. Of course, Kara had responded fairly enthusiastically, but maybe she should play it safe. Just for the meantime.

So she just gave Kara a heartfelt smile, and said “‘Night to you too. And, you know, our families do have history, but you can always trust me.”

The words sounded overly-grandiose to her ears, but they were genuine, and Kara returned her smile, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She seemed to be debating something internally, and Lena felt a sudden flicker of doubt. Maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to bring up their family history.

Suddenly she felt awkward, uncertain. “Um, I’ll see you tomorrow,” she said quickly, and turned on her heel, berating herself internally as she went. She could feel Kara’s eyes following her, but she didn’t want to turn around, didn’t want to see the doubt that was certainly creeping into her eyes.

She had just pushed through the double doors when she heard a shout behind her, followed by the sound of the doors being pushed back open.

“Wait, Lena!”

It must have been the comment. Lena turned around, an apology already on her tongue, only to be taken aback as Kara pressed her lips against hers, one hand winding its way into her hair, the other around her waist. It was short, but even so, Lena could feel the hungry way her lips moved over hers before she pulled away, a slightly ragged breath tickling against Lena’s cheek before she broke off the contact completely and stepped away.

“Um,” Lena said dazedly. “That was...I didn’t expect that.”

“Me neither,” Kara admitted breathlessly, her brow wrinkling. “But, I wanted to, back there, and then you turned away so I wasn’t sure but then I thought ‘oh, to hell with it’, and - well, yeah.”

“Oh,” Lena replied, unable to think of a more intelligent response. Her brain was dangerously close to short-circuiting, and the pleasing feeling that she hadn’t been wrong about Kara’s intentions - that the feeling _was_ mutual, after all - was spreading through her body. “That was...a long time in coming.

Kara wrinkled her nose, abashed. “Really? I’m really bad at reading signals. Especially romantic ones. I think it’s an alien thing, but Alex says it’s just me being oblivious.”

Lena shook her head, unable to stop the smile creeping over her face. “You’re both wrong. I mean, it took you awhile but - well, I’m expecting more from now on.”

“Oh - oh!” Kara absorbed the meaning behind the words immediately, and blushed. “Well, if that’s the case -”

She cut off suddenly before she could finish her sentence, and Lena could tell by the distant look in her eyes that she must be listening to Winn. Her blush deepened, slipping from pink to a bright red, and a sheepish frown made its way across her face. “Okay, right. Um, Winn says no more kissing, _please_.”

Lena nodded, mortification stealing across her own expression. “Oh god. I keep forgetting he’s listening.”

“Me too.” Kara winced, and shuffled her feet awkwardly. “Right, so...tomorrow?”

Lena smiled, and as she did so, felt an enormous weight lift slowly off of her shoulders, her chest filling with a feather-light feeling. It took her a second to place it. What was it called when you were the opposite of lonely? She had friends now, friends who would help her face her mother, and she had - _Kara_ , who was more than that even. Lena couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so...not alone.

“Tomorrow.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, straight up admission that Lena's plan is extremely convoluted and all if this drama is literally built on that annoying trope that the characters just won't fricking talk to each other. Like, it could totally have been avoided if they'd just sat down and had a couple of straight up, honest conversations. But also, I really wanted to write a dramatic reveal. And it was a lot more fun this way. At least for me.


	15. Next steps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, I'm back! And first I want to say I'm extremely sorry about the huge gap between chapters. I know I've been neglecting my stories for a while, but I promise it's not because I don't plan on finishing! I've been having to deal with a lot of real life stuff, and my mental health has taken a dive which has made it really hard to write and work on the things I want to update. I'm still going though, and I don't plan on giving up on this story anytime soon. There's a clear direction as to where this story is heading, and I have planned out the next few chapters and the end. So once again, I'm sorry about the delay, and I hope you enjoy this chapter, which unfortunately is a bit of a setting up chapter. More action is coming soon, however, I promise.

Maggie didn't look up to the sound of the door opening. Her head was comfortably nestled in her arms, which were comfortably spread on her desk, and she was enjoying the first ounce of pseudo-sleep she'd managed to get since that damn disaster of a date.

So she didn't bother to look up when she heard the familiar sounds of Sethers’ heavy footsteps, nor did she stir at the sound of his obscenely cheerful whistling, which cut off abruptly as soon as he rounded the corner and caught sight of her.

“Jesus Mags, what happened to you?”

For a moment, Maggie deliberated between raising her head, or ignoring him in order to fake a few more minutes of sleep. Then there was the rustle of movement, and the slosh of a coffee cup being plunked down beside her. That decided it for her.

Blearily, Maggie raised her head, and pinned her partner with a bloodshot stare. He gave her a once over and winced, and then hesitantly held out his own cup of coffee. 

“I already bought you one, but I got the feeling you're gonna need more than one cup.”

Maggie snorted and swatted his cup away from under her nose. “Very funny. Thanks though. And I'll stick with my own. You put too much sugar in.”

Sethers shrugged, but couldn't hide his teasing grin as he brought his own cup up to take a sip. “Sure thing. So tell me, did you even go home last night?”

“No,” Maggie grumbled, and groped for her own cup, which was hot enough to the touch that she could feel it through the cup warmer. Gingerly, she brought it to her lips to take a sip, and sighed as the first drop hit her. Black coffee, no sugar. Sethers knew her well. “I’ve been up all night going over this damn case. Trying to figure out a way -”

“To save the case and whatever’s left of your chances with that girl?” Sethers grinned at his own wit, an expression which slid quickly away as Maggie gave him a hopeless look. “Shit, really? Mags, I know you really liked this girl, but it was one date, and you’ve got a clear lead. It sucks, but you know what they say about oceans and fishes.”

Maggie just shook her head ruefully, and prized the lid off of her cup so as to let some of the heat escape. “I know, I know. But this isn’t just any fish, Sethers. Me and Alex - we clicked, hard. Better than anyone I’ve gone out with since - well, for a while. And now, with this case, that they had to put me on -”

She cut off with a sigh and tossed the plastic lid onto her desk, sending a small shower of coffee droplets across the surface. A few landed dangerously close to a stack of files, but she didn’t seem to notice, or care. Instead she just stared miserably at her coffee, thumbing the edge of her cup warmer, and when she spoke again, her tone was bitter.

“Why did it have to be her, Sethers? Why, of all people, did it have to be her?”

Sethers didn’t know how to reply, so he just gave her a sympathetic shrug and took a large gulp of his coffee. “Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.”

Maggie’s first instinct was to shoot him a glare at his apparent dismissal of her possible soulmate, but after a moment logic took over, and so she softened it into an unhappy frown. Maybe he was right. After all, if she was looking for a sign from the universe, that was basically a flashing neon billboard.

“Maybe.” She blew away the steam billowing up from her coffee, and stared at it gloomily. “I just can’t help thinking that there’s some kind of chance. That it’ll work out, you know? Somehow.”

“Ooh, yeah.” Sethers gave a grimace, and shifted uncomfortably from his position, leaning against the desk opposite hers. “That’s a dangerous way to think though. If you’re gonna cling onto some hope, then you either gotta give up the case, or give up on her.”

“Yeah…” Maggie pondered that thought for a moment, imagining what would happen if she gave up the case. That could work, maybe. They could put somebody else on it, though the decision wouldn’t go through easily; she’d been chosen for a reason, being one of the most experienced detectives in the precinct. It would be a pain in the ass, but it wouldn’t be impossible. She could do it.

…But that was the coward’s way out. And it would be selfish, to boot.

Maggie blew out an unhappy breath, sending a cloud of steam scattering away from her coffee cup. She took a large, careless sip, letting the liquid burn her throat as it slid down. Then she lowered her cup, and looked Sethers in the eye. “Bringing someone else onto the case would just slow the whole thing down. If it’s gonna get solved, it’s gonna be by me, right? I started it, I gotta finish.”

Sethers slapped his knee approvingly, and shot her a wide grin. “Now those are the words of the second-best detective in the precinct.”

Maggie scoffed. “Oh, like you would even be here without me. You better watch your ass, because I’ve solved enough murders to know how to get away with one.”

“See, now that’s the kind of attitude I was hoping for!”

****

Winn, Lena, and Kara all decided on the mutual sacrifice of their lunch hour for the sake of their first meeting as a budding superhero team. The decision passed without much complaint, except from Kara, who seemed visibly disappointed by the news, but somehow showed up anyway with a couple of plastic wrapped sandwiches stuffed into her jacket pocket and another, already half-eaten, clutched in her hand.

Lena was already there when Kara arrived, having taken it upon herself to organize the meeting spot. Being the most quiet and studious of the three, she was well-liked by all the professors, which made it a simple matter to snag the key to an empty classroom, which she claimed she needed in order to study without distractions.

She looked up immediately when Kara walked in, a bright smile already blooming on her face, which faltered slightly as she saw Winn slide in right behind her. Her hesitance lasted only a second though, and then she slammed her smile back into place, because it didn’t make sense. Winn was Kara’s friend, which meant Kara trusted him, which meant that Lena could trust him. There was nothing to be suspicious about, she knew, and she was only nervous because she didn’t know him that well, and not because he was obviously very close to Kara, and had probably known her for years, and knew about her secret way before Lena did, which may or may not factor into Kara’s level of trust -

“Glad you could make it.” She forced the thoughts out of her mind with a bright, barely faked smile, as Winn let the door swing shut behind him. Perhaps her smile looked a little too stiff, or her greeting was off, because Kara gave her an odd look, before flashing her usual warm grin.

“Nife to see youm too,” she said through a mouthful of sandwich. Lena stared, and wondered just how she had managed to get any words past the amount of food she had crammed in her mouth.

“Gross, Kara, chew,” Winn said, and shot her a disgusted look, before glancing apologetically at Lena. “Sorry Lena, but Kara gets grumpy if she doesn’t eat. Like, scary grumpy. Grumpy enough to accidentally singe off your hair with her laser eyes.”

“Hfyff,” Kara protested, and then at Lena’s and Winn’s combined look of confusion, took a huge gulp and swallowed before continuing. “Hey, that was one time!”

“One time too many,” Winn grumbled, and then gave Lena a serious look. “Seriously Lena, look out for that. You gotta feed her, or there _will_ be unpleasant consequences.” 

Despite herself, Lena couldn’t help but crack a smile. In that moment, she decided that she was going to like Winn. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind. And keep sandwiches on hand.”

“Hey, don’t get her in on this too!” Kara protested. “Lena, you’re supposed to be on my side.”

Lena raised an eyebrow. “So you don’t want me to bring you food?”

“No I do, but - I mean you don’t have to -” she paused, as she realized that both Lena and Winn were visibly trying to reign in their laughter. “Okay, this is not the point of this meeting.”

“You’re right,” Lena agreed, and just like that the laughter vanished from her chest, to be replaced by the same queasy feeling of dread that had been sitting in her stomach ever since her discovery. The grin slid from her face just as quickly, and she grimaced as she recalled the serious nature of their meeting. How could they joke around when thousands of lives were at stake?

Beyond her, Kara was apparently thinking the same thing, for her grin had vanished. Now her expression was somber, her eyes hard with determination. It was the kind Lena couldn’t recall ever really seeing on Kara Danvers - but then again, she thought, she had heard it before, in that voice hidden underneath the mask. It gave meaning to the expression ‘steely-eyed’. It suited her, Lena realized. 

A silence had fallen over the group, so Lena hurriedly cleared her throat and continued. “Okay, you’re right. We need to focus, and _I_ need to fill you in. I mean, we probably won’t have very many chances to meet, will we?”

“Oh, yeah.” A guilty look crossed Kara’s face, and she shrugged sheepishly. “Um, fingers crossed that Alex will stop grounding me soon. She doesn’t usually go past a few days, even if she’s really angry.”

“So she’ll let you use your powers again?” Winn brightened at the thought, and Lena figured that must have something to do with the training sessions Kara had offhandedly mentioned to her. It seemed as if Winn had taken on the role of trainer-coach for Kara, if his apparent eagerness was any indication. Lena wondered briefly what that would mean for her role in burgeoning dynamic of the group. She hadn’t had a group of friends in…well, it had been a while.

Kara shook her head sadly. “Nah, I don’t think so. At least, I’ll have to be careful about it, but if I don’t push my luck I’ll bet she’ll lift my house arrest by the end of the week. She’s too soft to keep me locked up so long.”

“Yeah, she doesn’t look soft,” Winn grumbled, but left it at that. Lena looked between them, wondering just how she should start the meeting. Or if she should be the one to start the meeting. Was this an official sort of thing, like a club? Kara didn’t seem like the type to care, but she had the feeling Winn would jump at making titles for everybody, though that honestly seemed like a bit of a waste of time -

“So Lena, you wanna start?” Winn asked, and Lena snapped out of her nervously running thoughts. “I know you sort of told Kara last night, but you said there was more, and it was important, so - what are we waiting for?”

The expression he wore was filled with excitement, and but there was a serious enough edge to his tone to pull Lena back into focus. _You’re overreacting,_ she chided herself inwardly. _Stop focusing on the wrong things. You - we - have bigger problems._

“Right,” she answered with a dip of her head, and clasped her hands together, looking for all the world as if she were about to deliver an academic lecture. “So the thing is, I didn’t just find these plans by accident. They come from a secret, anti-alien organization called CADMUS. I don’t know what that’s supposed to mean exactly, but their intentions are pretty clear. They want to get aliens out of National City, and they don’t care how many people they kill in the process.”

Kara and Winn were listening intently, practically leaning forward so as to catch every single word. Lena paused momentarily to frame her next thought, and then Winn frowned suddenly, his brow wrinkling as a question occurred to him.

“So wait, how did you find out about this organization? I mean, I’ve never heard of them in my life, and well, not to brag or anything but I’ve _sort of_ hacked into most government agencies.”

“Yeah, that’s the thing.” Lena cast a nervous glance at Kara, who gave her a reassuring nod, and then back to Winn, who was glancing between them in confusion, uncertain as to what he was missing. Lena took in a deep breath, and reminded herself that Kara trusted Winn. And Lena trusted Kara. If she thought that Winn wouldn’t be reject her based on her last name, then -

Her hands churned together anxiously. She hesitated, and then expelled the breath and spoke. “I found out about them by hacking into my mother’s secret files. That’s where I found the details about the organization, the plans, everything.”

She watched with a sinking feeling as the news hit him. Kara was nodding along encouragingly, a gentle smile on her face, and Lena felt a sudden rush of affection. Winn stared at her, a slight crease in his brow and then, as he made the connection, his eyes widened comically.

“So that means -”

Lena nodded. “Exactly. I think - no, I’m certain - that my mother is running CADMUS.”

Her stomach swooped as she finally said the words out loud. Winn was staring at her, and she stared anxiously back, unable to tell what he was thinking. He seemed to be in shock at the news, and after a moment Kara cast him a worried glance. “Winn…?”

Kara’s voice drew him back to the present, and he blew out a heavy breath, his cheeks puffing out. “Wow, Lena, that's…I’m so sorry. That’s awful to hear.”

“Um…” Lena stared at Winn, taken aback by the genuine sympathy in his tone. There was no hesitation, none of the automatic rejection she had come to expect. He’d just…accepted her. Just like Kara had. “Um…thank you, Winn. Really. It means a lot.”

To her horror, her voice nearly cracked on the last word, and she covered it up with a hasty cough, though she could have sworn she caught a glimpse of a knowing twinkle in Kara’s eye. However, it was immediately replaced by a serious expression as Lena gestured embarrassedly to move on to the next topic.

“So - anyway,” she continued. “I have a general idea of what attacks my mother is planning, but I don’t know the specifics - the when, or the where, or the how. So -”

“Wait,” Kara interjected. “Attacks? As in more than one?”

“Oh.” Lena paused, backpedaled. “Right. I forgot I didn’t really explain anything at all yesterday, did I?”

Kara made a face. “No, not really.”

“Yeah…” Lena had the good grace to look abashed. “Okay, so let me go back to the beginning. Have you guys noticed the rise in alien-related crime lately?”

“Of course,” Winn chimed in, with just the slightest air of smugness. “I’ve actually been tracking it for a while.” 

Kara nodded with him, though her gaze was still entirely focused on Lena, her brow crinkling in concern. All traces of her normal good humor had vanished, to be replaced by a tense seriousness. “So you’re saying this spike in alien crime is related to whatever your mother’s doing?”

Lena nodded grimly. “Exactly. But it’s even more than that. See, my mother…”

And with that, she launched into a long and detailed description of everything she had discovered the day before about her mother’s plans, as well as all she had managed to dig up about the CADMUS itself. Kara’s and Winn’s expressions grew tauter with each word, until at last, when she finally came to a stop, Lena could have sworn she was looking at two ghosts rather than people, for the two were white as sheets, their faces drawn up with the worry of one who had just realized he’d tumbled into something way over his head. Lena recognized that look; it was the one she’d been wearing herself the last day or two.

“So…that’s it. That’s everything,” Lena finished awkwardly, and congratulated herself inwardly for the way she’d managed to deliver the entire speech without her voice trembling even once. Something about explaining it to others helped; it distanced her from the reality of the whole thing, making her feel more as if she were delivering some sort of lecture rather than explaining her mother’s very real plans for mass murder.

Kara and Winn were definitely feeling that reality however, for as Lena watched their ghostly pallor passed from chalk-white to a vague green, and Winn looked as if he were about to be sick. Kara just looked terrified, though she clearly was trying to hide it.

“I’ll be honest, that’s a little more than I expected.” Kara’s words were carefully nonchalant, but the expression on her face ruined her attempt at bravado. 

“That’s the understatement of the year,” Winn grumbled. His half-hearted sarcasm ran too with an undercurrent of fear. “So, do we know when they’ll strike? And where? I feel like those are pretty relevant pieces of information.”

“Not…exactly,” Lena answered glumly. “Well, sort of. It looked like the attacks were supposed to get started soon. One of the documents said something about the November-December time frame -”

“That’s now,” Kara pointed out.

“Right,” Lena agreed. “But there weren’t any specific dates. And there weren’t any specific locations. Just - there was a map, with all the major gathering sites in the city marked. You know; the malls, the movie theaters, the art museum, the shipping docks, city hall…” she trailed off and fell silent, the weight of her words overwhelming her into silence. 

“Oh,” breathed Kara. “That’s…extensive.”

“Yeah,” Winn said, his forehead wrinkling in worry. “And this is…this is…okay, am I the only one who feels like we have nothing? I mean, we obviously have something, thanks to Lena -” he gestured towards her, and she gave a short nod in response. “ - but other than that, we’re flying blind! All we have is a list of every major location in the city, and a time frame that covers two months!”

“We need more information,” Lena said, and Kara nodded in agreement. “But I’m not sure when I can get into my mother’s files again. She seemed sort of suspicious of me yesterday morning, and whenever she thinks she suspects something she tightens up security. I know she’s going to be watching any activity on my computer really closely. I’ll try, but it could take a while before she loosens up. As in weeks.”

“Why don’t you use one of the school computers then?” Winn asked. “I mean, can you get into your mother’s files from one of these?”

“I -” Lena stared at him in surprise. She honestly hadn’t considered using one of the school computers. She wasn’t sure it would work. “Well I mean, technically no, because the servers are separate from the internet here, so - actually, wait. Hypothetically, all the files I found must have been shared with CADMUS members, right? So her private files must be connected to the CADMUS server, which means -”

“- that if we can access the CADMUS server, we can find a way to her files and make it look like an inside job,” Winn finished. They stared at each other silently for a moment, as the idea sunk in. It was a good idea, Lena realized. Actually, it was brilliant. So brilliant it might actually work.

“I can see why Kara keeps you around,” she told Winn. Her voice was teasing, but she couldn’t keep the grin off her face. Winn, for his part, responded with a grin of his own, and cracked his knuckles in a showy way that made Kara wince.

“Okay, I get it, you guys are both computer geniuses,” she said, and gave a dramatic roll of her eyes for good measure. “So, when do you think you can do it?”

Winn and Lena looked at each other, and then Lena shrugged. “Since we don’t have to wait for my mother to get off my back - hypothetically, soon. In the next few days, even.”

Winn rubbed his hands together eagerly in excitement. “Yeah, all we have to do is find an unused computer, figure out how to add it into CADMUS’s servers as a fake new member, and then hack into your mother’s top secret files. Piece of cake.”

Kara looked skeptically between the two. “If you say so.” She shifted uncertainly in place, and then reached up to push her glasses back up her nose. “So wait, what am I supposed to do while you guys are hacking? Just sit around and wait for an attack?”

“Well, what can you do?” Lena asked her. The question came out slightly harsher than she intended, so she winced and backtracked. “That’s not what I meant. I mean - you’re still grounded, so you probably shouldn’t be out fighting crime -”

“- yeah, and you can’t train either,” Winn chimed in, and then shrank at Kara’s darkening look. “Sorry Kara, I just think you should play it cool for a couple days. At least until Alex lifts your grounding.”

For a moment, Kara looked like she was about to argue. She looked between the two, taking in their identically stubborn expressions, and then groaned and sank into a nearby chair. “Geez, you two sound like Alex! It’s like I’m being grounded all over again.”

“Aw, don’t take it personally,” Winn said. “Here -” he scooped up one of the sandwiches Kara had dropped onto a nearby desk and tossed it to Lena. “Let your girlfriend feed you sandwiches.”

Lena blushed at the label but caught the sandwich all the same, and threw it straight towards Kara’s face, who looked up just in time to snatch it out of the air with inhuman speed. She shot Lena a mutinous glance, but tore off the package anyway and took a bite. “I hate you both.”

Lena just shot her an overly sweet smile, as much to tease Kara as it was to cover the color in her cheeks that refused to fade. “And how many sandwiches do I have to buy to change that opinion?”

“Ugh!”

***

It turned out to be quite a headache, modifying their first plan to strike.

There was a good amount of grumbling about the sudden change in location, especially under such short notice, but Lillian chose to ignore the quiet current of whispers and complaints about the modifications. Most were far enough in the background so as not to pose a threat; the simple mumbling of low-level workers who resented any sudden change in their long-worked plans. However, she kept her ears open for any voices who became too loud, too openly dissenting. There were one or two, as often happened in an organization where every member happened to be too smart for their own good, but Lillian was swift to dispose of such underlings.

That was part of the practice, after all. It took a strong hand to run a secret, underground organization, and Lillian was not afraid to apply it where needed. She disdained the claim that a leader needed respect, rather than fear, to guide her troops. She considered that approach to be too limiting; no more than a half-way method.

Lillian Luthor had always preferred to lead through both.

So she paid no mind to the complaints of her underlings, which usually amounted to nothing more than whining about the sudden amount of work piled upon them before the deadline. She herself found no reason to care, since the sudden change had prompted far more work for herself than any other worker at CADMUS. After all, it was she who had to work out the details of the new plan, double-check and sign off on the appropriate amount of explosives, and hash out just which criminal alien race they would need to frame for the attack. It was a lot of work, all told, and Lillian threw herself into it with single-minded determination.

Because this new plan did not just involve a change of location. It also involved a new detail which required plenty of careful planning, and it worried Lowenstein to no end.

“Are you sure it’ll work?” he asked her for the twentieth time during one of their most recent review sessions, which by now contained no more than the most relevant personnel. Namely, herself and Lowenstein.

She fixed him with a cold stare, though it was tampered slightly by the irritated twist of her mouth at the question. “I’ve told you multiple times before - it has to. There’s no reason that it shouldn’t, unless your people in the field are not properly equipped, or some other equally stupid oversight, which I trust you not to fall into.”

Lowenstein gulped at the implied threat and shook his head vigorously, though it was apparent that his nerves were directed at the plan itself, rather than Lillian’s cool words. He had long since grown used to such remarks over their years of partnership. “No, no, of course I’ll take every precaution. It’s just that this is such a sudden addition, and we’ve never really coped with anything like this -”

“Isn’t this exactly what you’ve always wanted?” Lillian interrupted him softly. There was a dangerous glint in her eyes, and Lowenstein stopped in his tracks, mouth working for a moment before he snapped it shut. His eyes were comically round.

“Oh, of course Lillian, you know that!” he gulped again, and drew a sweaty hand to rub over his equally sweaty forehead. It did little to wash any of the nervous condensation that had gathered on his brow. “Obviously I’ll be over the moon if we succeed, it’s just - well, it’s so sudden. And if it doesn’t work -”

Lillian cut him off with an irritable snort. “Alright, enough of that, Lowenstein. All your ‘ifs’, and ‘maybes’ - that’s what’s sapping the confidence out of this plan, which I really don’t believe to be overly complicated. We’re just taking care of an opportunity here. And it will work, because I’ve spent the past four nights this week working over the details of the plan, and I can assure you that we have back-up plans within back-up plans. So really, who are you doubting?”

The accusation was clear in her tone, and Lowenstein gathered it immediately. His eyes widened and he held up a defensive hand, as if to physically deny the accusation. “Lillian, you know that’s not what I meant. I’m just worried, because you have to admit - the plan carries some risk.”

“Of course it does.” Lillian gave a shrug. “All plans do, but if you have any _legitimate_ and _specific_ complaints about this addition, I expect you to voice them - not this ridiculous generalized blathering about whether or not it’ll work. I assure you, the basis of the plan is sound.”

“And I believe you,” Lownestein added, though the worry hadn’t quite left his eyes. However, there was a shadow of defeat evident in his expression, and Lillian pressed her advantage.

“So do you have an specific complaints about this plan, or are you just wasting my time instead of getting your people ready?”

“I -” Lowenstein’s mouth hung open, and then he shut it and sighed, surrendering. “No. The details are sound. I’ll brief my people, and get back to you once everything is in place.”

“Good.” Lillian granted him a rare, if self-satisfied smile. “And once your people are ready, I want you to ready the operation room. I suspect we’ll be needing it.”

Lowenstein stared blankly at her for a beat, not understanding - and then it clicked, and the apprehension faded from his expression. It was replaced by a slow, ugly smile.

***

Maggie had given up on researching Kara Danvers - at least temporarily.

There wasn’t much more that could be gathered on her, in any case. Every file was bulletproof, and all of them led to a dead end with the death of her birth parents and her adoption into the Danvers family. No matter how much she dug, there was almost nothing about the girl before the age of thirteen.

She did manage to turn up the usual things - birth certificate, social security, even a few elementary school records, but it all seemed strangely blank, like the barest sketches of a life. For instance, Kara had been listed as attending one of Midvale’s elementary schools, but a quick search confirmed only her attendance, and nothing beyond that. Where were the photos, the teacher evaluations?

No, in many ways, it almost seemed as if Kara Danvers had sprung from thin air at the age of thirteen. 

But that wasn’t enough to prove anything, and Maggie shook her head as she stared at the evidence in front of her, tapping her pen impatiently against the desk. There were just enough records on Kara’s pre-adoption life to prove she existed, and that wasn’t much to build a case on. The only organization that would accept that kind of flimsy evidence would be the new alien division of Immigration Control, and there was no way in hell Maggie was about to report some kid for possible extraterrestrial origins.

She bit her lip and stared at the evidence laid out in front of her. The kid, at the moment, was a dead-end, unless she managed to trap her into an interrogation.

Alex, however…

Inspiration hit Maggie like a punch to the gut, or maybe that was just the copious amounts of caffeine finally kicking in. Her eyes widened as a realization hit her, and she leaned forward to pull her computer keyboard closer, brushing loose papers out of the way. A flurry of clicks got her into Alex’s official government records, and as she flicked between files, dots slowly began to connect in her head.

Alex worked for the government. That much was confirmed, even officially - and Maggie knew enough about government agencies to tell the difference between a faked file and a real one. But she also knew that the government, slow to trust the influx of extraterrestrial immigrants, put up an automatic red flag at any close alien relations within a prospective applicant’s file. 

Maggie chewed on her bottom lip as she considered the facts before her. If it seemed pretty obvious to her that Alex’s adopted sister was not of this world, than there was no way the FBI would have missed such an obvious discrepancy. And no matter how stunning Alex’s credentials were on paper, Maggie knew that something as egregious as an adopted alien sister would never have flown with the FBI.

There was no way she could have gotten in.

Unless…unless it wasn’t the FBI she worked for.

What if Alex’s government files were real, but the organization she worked for…wasn’t?

Maggie bent her head over her keyboard, and began to type.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I know only the bare minimum about computers. And detectives, and police work for that matter. Please don't take my word for the credibility of anything here.
> 
> Also, just a bit of headcanon: while I think Kara is obviously super smart, I feel like her strengths don't necessarily lie in the computer world. I always assumed that she grew up learning a ton about physics, biology, chemistry and math - the natural sciences - so she could go into the science guild. I think computer science on Krypton was probably extraordinarily different than it is on earth (since coding itself is like a language in a lot of ways, and would definitely differ) and so while I'm sure Kara has no trouble with computers, I don't think she'd automatically be a brilliant hacker like Winn or Lena.
> 
> Also narratively, I feel like they all shouldn't just be computer geniuses. So there's that.


End file.
